BUTTERWORTH: Water production capacity at Penang's largest water treatment plant (WTP) in Sungai Dua, is expected to reach 100 per cent this evening.
The Sungai Dua WTP had to be temporarily shut down yesterday due to the abnormally high turbidity of incoming raw water from Sungai Muda.
The emergency measure was necessary to prevent the production of unsafe treated water.
Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) chief executive officer Datuk Jaseni Maidinsa said, as of now, water production capacity at the Sungai Dua WTP had reached 61 per cent.
He said water supply for about 48 per cent of Penang's registered water consumers affected by the Sungai Dua WTP shutdown, normalised as at 10am today.
"PBAPP will continue to ramp up production at the Sungai Dua WTP to reach an optimal level of 100 per cent (or an average of 988 MLF - million litres per day) by 6pm.
"However, consumers in the end-of-line (EOL) and higher ground areas throughout Penang may have to wait for a few additional hours for the water supply to reach their premises at normal pressure.
"The duration of water supply disruption and restoration in the affected areas varies and depends on the location and water pressure in the water supply distribution system. Water supply to the affected consumers will be channelled in stages," he told reporters during a site visit to the Sungai Dua WTP near here this afternoon.
Present was Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
The Sungai Dua WTP provides 80 per cent of the total potable water supply in Penang daily with raw water drawn from Sungai Muda.
There are a total of 660,000 water account holders under PBAPP.
Yesterday's unscheduled water disruption in several parts of the state had resulted in public chaos as many claimed they had not been informed to store water ahead of time.
As people rushed to get bottled water, hypermarkets, supermarkets, mini markets and sundry shops reportedly had empty shelves.
Meanwhile, elected representatives in the affected areas also scrambled to look for water supply for their angry constituents.
Explaining, Jaseni said yesterday's incident was totally unexpected.
He said since the Sungai Dua WTP was the largest and most important WTP in the state, they could not easily shut it down.
"We have to make decisions based on facts. When we saw the abnormally high turbidity, we decided to temporarily shut it down.
"When the turbidity of the raw water entering the Sungai Dua WTP reached an acceptable level at noon yesterday, we restarted water production at the Sungai Dua WTP in stages.
"The Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) reading yesterday was more than 3,000. It is not possible to treat water beyond NTU of 3,000. Today, the reading ranged between 700 and 800," he added.
He said it was a requirement for industries, hospitals and prisons, among others, to have 48 hours of water storage, and as such it should not have been a problem.
Meanwhile, Chow, who is chairman of the authority's listed entity PBA Holdings Bhd, said they never expected such a situation to happen in the state, which caused inconvenience to the people.
"This is why we have been pushing for an alternative source of raw water for the state to complement Sungai Muda.
"We hope the government and the relevant ministry will not delay this any further.
"What happened yesterday should serve as an eye opener to all on the need for an alternative raw water source in the state," he added.