SHAH ALAM, 18 June: 19 alternative water source pools throughout the state have been identified to be gazetted as protected zones.
The Director of the Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS), Md Khairi Selamat, said that the selection criteria is based on the size of the pool, exceeding 10 acres, located near rivers, has easy access and positioned near intakes.
He said that based on the results of sampling analysing conducted by the Selangor Department of Health from 2011 to 2013, the quality of water from the pool meets standards set by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia (MOH).
“These pools are used to increase the water level of Sungai Selangor to supply water to water treatment plants in the event of a shortage of water resources,” he said.
He said this during the Alternative Water Source Current Status Information Seminar held at the Shah Alam Convention Centre (SACC) today.
Meanwhile, the State Government Secretary, Datuk Mohamed Khusrin Munawi, said that the use of alternative water sources is not a plan set up at the last minute when there is a shortage of water, but through LUAS, these pools have been identified since 2005.
“The latest sampling analysis conducted by the MOH shows that the quality of pool water meets standards. In fact, the water samples taken from mines, in general, are cleaner compared to surface water samples,” he said.
The information seminar also features presentations of work papers from LUAS, the Selangor Health Department, the Malaysian Department of Chemistry and Putra University, Malaysia (UPM).
NS
