It’s the dry season again for the millions of people living in Selangor after their water supply was cut today for the third time this year, and just a little more than a month since taps previously ran dry. Making the matter worse is the whole state being under lockdown due to COVID-19 until next Tuesday.
Water supplier Air Selangor said at 8am today that the “unscheduled water disruption” was caused by water pollution at the Rantau Panjang treatment plants but did not disclose the source of that pollution. It did say that the pollution has caused water at the plants to become smelly, reaching level one on the threshold odor number, or TON.
Nearly 1.2 million homes across more than 1,200 areas have been affected by the disruption, it added.
“Pollution at the four water treatment plants has caused 1,196,475 accounts covering 1,292 areas to experience an unscheduled water disruption,” the statement by Kuala Lumpur and Selangor’s sole water provider said. They did not specify when the water supply would resume.
The water cut has affected homes in the districts of Klang, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Hulu Selangor, Gombak dan Kuala Langat. The full list of affected areas can be found online, including major locations in the city like the national zoo, Zoo Negara, KLCC mall, and the Petronas Twin Towers.
Air Selangor said it will deploy water tanks to affected areas with priority given to hospitals and dialysis centers.
“We understand that many people need clean water, especially due to the lockdown caused by rising COVID-19 cases. We’re doing our best to minimize the impact of the water cut,” the statement added.
Over the weekend, nearly 700 homes in the same districts experienced unscheduled water cut due to a burst pipe at the Sungai Selangor water treatment plant on Saturday.
In September, taps ran dry in more than a million households after authorities shut down four water treatment plants due to oil pollution in the Sungai Gong river.
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