Published: Tuesday September 7, 2010 MYT 12:57:00 PM

Semenyih water plant closed due to contamination, 1.2mil affected

PETALING JAYA: The Semenyih water treatment plant has been closed down since 1.40am on Tuesday morning following river contamination from a nearby landfill.
In a statement, Syabas said raw water from Sungai Kembong in Selangor was contaminated due to "lechate" leaking from a breached dyke in the landfill.
"The plant was closed immediately upon detecting high content of ammonia in the water at 6.41mg per litre, which is above the health safety standard of 1.5mg per litre, put into place by the Health Ministry.
"A yellow alert emergency plan has been into place. We are now trying to redistribute water from other treatment plants to the affected areas," it said.
The closure of the plant, which treated some 600mil litres of water daily, is expected to affect supply to 1.2mil residents or 300,000 households in four areas - Petaling, Hulu Langat, Sepang and Kuala Langat.
"Syabas has prepared 32 water tankers and 300 static tanks in order to supply water to the affected residents.
"However, since the areas affected are large, the capacity to deliver water may be limited," he said.
The plant is run by Konsortium ABASS Sdn Bhd, a state government subsidiary.