Penang water company says on high alert after Sungai Muda drops below safe level

Opalyn Mok
·2-min read
Malay Mail
Malay Mail

GEORGE TOWN, April 18 — The Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) is on high alert after Sungai Muda measured at 1.61m at the Lahar Tiang intake yesterday, which is below the two-metre safe level.

PBAPP CEO K. Pathmanathan said PBAPP still managed to abstract about 1,200 million litres per day (MLD) from the river to support optimal treated water production at the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant (WTP).

“As of today, there is no immediate threat to water supply in Penang in relation to the Sungai Muda river level,” he said in a statement today.

He said this is because Syarikat Air Darul Aman Sdn Bhd (SADA) yesterday announced that Lembaga Sumber Air Negeri Kedah (LSANK) and Pejabat Lembangan Sungai Muda (PLSM) have increased the volume of water released from the Beris Dam into Sungai Muda, from 864 MLD (10 cumec) to 1,296 MLD (15 cumec).

Additionally, he said PBAPP may draw down on a maximum of 600 MLD from the expanded Mengkuang Dam (EMD) if it is not able to abstract sufficient raw water from Sungai Muda.

The effective capacity of Mengkuang Dam was 89.7 per cent yesterday.

He said the EMD serves as a back-up dry weather resource which may be tapped if PBAPP cannot abstract sufficient water from Sungai Muda.

Currently, PBAPP abstracts 1,200 MLD from Sungai Muda at the Sungai Dua WTP to produce about 85 per cent of the treated water in Penang daily.

He said the maximum drawdown capacity from the EMD is 600 MLD, or about 50 per cent of the raw water required by the Sungai Dua WTP to operate optimally.

“As such, so long as PBAPP is able to abstract 600 MLD of raw water from Sungai Muda and draw down 600 MLD from the EMD, there should be no unscheduled water supply interruption in Penang,” he said.

However, he said PBAPP will still be on high alert because Sungai Muda is Penang’s primary raw water resource.

He said they will continue to monitor the river level carefully and provide public updates as and when the Sungai Muda level improves or worsens.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories

  • Tornado kills at least 5, injures 33, in Chinese metropolis as region battles deadly floods

    Authorities say 141 factory buildings were damaged by the tornado in Guangzhou, a city of 19 million people.

  • Ruins of 300-year-old Philippines town resurface as extreme heat dries up reservoir

    Pantabangan was submerged when a dam was built in 1970s

  • Mount Ruang volcano erupts with lightning

    Indonesia's remote Mount Ruang volcano erupted multiple times on April 30. The volcano, which erupted more than half a dozen times this month, forced evacuations.

  • Rare European eel and tope shark among 81 species found along Sussex coastline

    Scientists say there is the urgent need to address destructive fishing practices globally.

  • Calls to clear up ‘environmental disaster’ beauty spot in Kent

    A local community is urging the government body to secure funding to get rid of an estimated 27,000 tonnes of illegal waste.

  • Dozens killed in Kenya as weeks of heavy rain devastate region

    At least 71 people have been confirmed dead and 110 people are in hospital following floods near the town of Mai Mahiu in Kenya’s north-western Nakuru county, Nakuru governor Susan Kihika confirmed to CNN on Monday.

  • EU suffers backlash over plan to monitor aircraft contrails

    The world’s largest airlines are urging Brussels to reconsider plans to monitor contrails, as they claim the science of how they contribute to global warming isn’t yet fully understood.

  • NSW to announce life extension of Eraring, Australia’s largest coal-fired power station

    Exclusive: Decision to keep the ageing plant operating for up to four more years could cost taxpayers as much as $150m a year

  • Filipino farmers struggle as drought and heatwave hits

    Filipino farmer Daniel Velasco pumps water from a well in a desperate attempt to save his wilting vegetables, as a scorching heatwave and the worst drought in years hits crops.Some farmers like Velasco switched from rice to vegetables, which need less water, but even those are dying.

  • G7 reportedly agrees end date for coal-fired power plants

    G7 energy ministers have agreed a time frame for phasing out coal-fired power plants, a British minister said Monday, as the UN warned "excuses" for failing to take bold actions on climate change were "not acceptable".On the first of the two days of talks, energy and ecological transition ministers from the G7 agreed to committing to a common target of shutting down coal-fired power plants, according to British Nuclear and Renewables Minister Andrew Bowie.

  • Warmer weather is finally on its way, with parts of Britain set to bask in 20C heat

    Highs of 20C (68F) are expected in parts of the UK this week, the Met Office has said, following a spell of cold, wet and windy weather. Forecasters expect warmer weather to return mid-week, with southeast England set to enjoy the highest temperatures. "It might not be the sort of glorious sort of heatwave that we're hoping for... but there probably will be some more pleasant and warmer weather for some people as we head towards the end of the week."

  • Bangladesh again closes schools nationwide due to heatwave

    A Bangladeshi court ordered a nationwide shutdown of schools on Monday due to an ongoing heatwave, the day after the government sent millions of children back to class despite searing temperatures.A two judge bench of the High Court passed an order "closing all primary and secondary schools and madrasas... due to the heatwave," deputy attorney general Sheikh Saifuzzaman told AFP. Saifuzzaman said the court passed the order after it was told by lawyers that several teachers had died in the heatwa

  • Met Office reveals when cold snap will end as temperatures set to hit 20C

    Temperatures are expected to rise towards the 20s through the week

  • At least 4 killed in Oklahoma tornado outbreak, as threat of severe storms continues from Missouri to Texas

    At least four people are dead, including an infant, after a tornado outbreak in Oklahoma overnight, as severe storms threaten more twisters, heavy rain and large hail from Missouri to Texas Sunday.

  • Renewable energy experts say N.W.T. government can do more to electrify its 1,088 vehicle fleet

    Andrew Robinson, a renewable energy consultant, on his electric cargo bike in Yellowknife on April 26, 2024. A plug-in hybrid vehicle and two other electric bikes are parked in the background. (Liny Lamberink/CBC)A small fraction of vehicles belonging to the Government of the Northwest Territories are hybrid electric — and renewable energy experts are urging the territory to do more to green its fleet.The territorial government has 1,088 vehicles across its departments, according to data from th

  • Ireland reaps €700m Brexit bonanza from customs duties

    Dublin records near-doubling of tax revenue from duties on imports of clothing, food and other goods from Great Britain

  • Why is the UK still so cold late April - and when will it get warmer?

    Temperatures plummeted to -6.3C in Shap, Cumbria, as the UK is hit by cold air from Greenland and the Arctic

  • Baby among at least five killed after tornadoes rip through central US

    A four-month-old baby is among those who died

  • Dozens killed as dam bursts in flood-hit Kenya

    At least 45 people died when a makeshift dam burst its banks near a town in Kenya's Rift Valley in the early hours of Monday, police said, as torrential rains and floods battered the country.The disaster raises the total death toll over the March-May wet season in Kenya to more than 120 as heavier than usual rainfall pounds East Africa, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern.Residents said the accident occurred in the dead of night near Mai Mahiu, in Nakuru county, sending water gushing down a hill and engulfing everything in its path.The deluge cut off a road, uprooted trees, washed away homes and sent vehicles flying."We heard what sounded like an earthquake and roars like a moving train," said Margaret Wangechi, a 52-year-old teacher.A senior officer at Nakuru County police headquarters told AFP by phone that 45 bodies had been recovered so far, while Nakuru governor Susan Kihika said 110 people were being treated in hospital.Rescuers were digging through the debris, using hoes and in some cases just their bare hands in a desperate search for survivors."We collected some of the bodies held by trees and we don't know how many are under the mud," Stephen Njihia Njoroge, a local resident involved in the emergency efforts, told AFP.The disaster occurred at Old Kijabe dam, a hillside barrier formed naturally over decades after railway construction work by Kenya's former British colonial rulers.- 'Risky behaviour' -The Red Cross has set up a desk at a local school to help families find lost relatives.Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said the government had directed security and intelligence officials to "inspect all public and private dams and water reservoirs in their jurisdictions within 24 hours... (and) recommend cases (for) compulsory evacuation and temporary resettlement".He also said on X that the authorities would arrest people engaging in "risky behaviour", including motorists attempting dangerous crossings and anyone seeking to transport "passengers across flooded rivers or storm water by unsafe canoes or boats".His comments came after a boat packed with people capsized at the weekend in flooded Tana River county in eastern Kenya, with the Kenya Red Cross saying it had retrieved two bodies and rescued 23 others.The government said Monday that search and rescue efforts there were ongoing.Video footage shared online and on television showed the crowded boat sinking, with people screaming as onlookers watched in horror.On Saturday, officials said 76 people had lost their lives in Kenya since March, with more than 130,000 displaced.Schools have been forced to remain shut following mid-term holidays, after the education ministry announced Monday it would postpone their reopening to May 6 because of the rains.- Turmoil across the region -The monsoons have also wreaked havoc in neighbouring Tanzania, where at least 155 people have been killed in flooding and landslides.In Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, flooding claimed the lives of four people on Monday, according to the Fire and Disaster Risk Management Commission.A woman and her baby died in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Sunday when heavy rainfall caused their house to collapse, police said.In neighbouring Burundi, one of the world's poorest countries, about 96,000 people have been displaced by months of relentless rains, according to the United Nations and the government.Uganda has also suffered heavy storms that have caused riverbanks to burst, with two deaths confirmed and several hundred villagers displaced.Monday's dam tragedy comes six years after a similar accident at Solai, also in Nakuru county, killed 48 people, sending millions of litres of muddy waters raging through homes and destroying power lines.The May 2018 disaster involving a private reservoir on a coffee estate also followed weeks of torrential rains that sparked deadly floods and mudslides.El Nino is a naturally occurring climate pattern typically associated with increased heat worldwide, leading to drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere.Late last year, more than 300 people died in rains and floods in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, just as the region was trying to recover from its worst drought in four decades that left millions of people hungry.The UN's World Meteorological Organization said in March that the latest El Nino is one of the five strongest ever recorded.ho-amu-txw/bp

  • New apartments now nearly RM600,000 on average in Malaysia

    KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — The price of a new apartment has risen to an average of RM582,887 in Malaysia, according to dat...