Selangor government to decide on water rationing on Wednesday

The Selangor state government will decide on Wednesday whether to discontinue its water rationing exercise that has been in force since March.

State Youth and Sports, Infrastructure and Public Amenities Permanent Committee chairman Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi, however, said a decision would be made after further discussions with the Menteri Besar and the members of the water related committee on Wednesday.

"At the moment, we are still proceeding with the rationing plan but any change to end or reduce the amount of rationing will be announced later.

"Nonetheless, we cannot stop suddenly but maybe in stages," he told a media conference here today.

When asked to comment on the safety of using water pumped from ponds, Dr Ahmad Yunus said the state government gave its assurance it was safe to use and was prepared to reveal the analysis report on the water to the public if required.

He said the results of sample water tests conducted by the Selangor Water Management Authority and the Selangor Health Department showed water samples pumped from Hang Tuah pond in Bestari Jaya near here were free from leptospirosis and were in compliance with chemical parameters set as well as the 5,000 MPN (most probable number) for bacteria.

Dr Ahmad Yunus said the state government would be adding 10 more water pumps by next month to pump water from the pond to meet the amount of water treated.

"From tomorrow, five more pumps will be added to pump water from the Hang Tuah pond into Sungai Selangor, making a total of seven pumps in operation.

"As at today, the Sungai Selangor Dam has a capacity of 92.19 million cubic metres or 40.08 per cent compared to last week at 89.46 million cubic metres (38.9 per cent), a rise of 1.18 per cent," he said.

He said even though the rise in the level was small, the rainfall in the catchment area has helped to offset the amount released from the dam.