PENANG consumers should join the fight to defend their dam levels by reducing domestic water consumption by 20% every single day, says Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
Chow, who is also the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) chairman, said he urged all Penangites to join this mission to ensure water supply sustainability at least until the next rainy season which is expected to arrive in September this year.
“According to PBAPP water consumption data for 2022, a 20% reduction in domestic consumption will result in a water saving of 106.8 million litres per day (MLD).
“This will go a long way towards ensuring water supply sufficiency in Penang until the expected heavy rainfall in September.
“Reducing your household water consumption by 20% also is not a difficult or impossible thing to do. You can just visit the PBAPP website at www.pba.com.my for water-saving tips,” Chow said in his speech when opening the World Water Day celebration at the Air Itam Dam today.
Also present were Air Itam assemblyman Joseph Ng Soon Siang and PBAPP chief executive officer K. Pathmanathan.
Chow said the state government and PBAPP are making this urgent appeal to domestic water consumers because the effective capacity of the Air Itam Dam was 41.5% on Friday (May 19).
“The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) also has published data online indicating that there may be a hot and dry El Niño phenomenon from now until August this year.
“Thus, it is very imperative that every Penangite starts to cut down on water consumption now.
“In 2022, domestic consumption accounted for about 61.6% of the total water consumption in Penang.
“As such, reducing domestic consumption will generate a bigger impact on water conservation than reducing consumption by all the factories, hotels, business premises, schools, government offices and other commercial enterprises in Penang,” he said.
Chow added that some areas on Penang island, like Air Itam, are in danger of running out of water this year.
“Thus, please help us to make sure that our Penang dam reserves can ‘survive’ until September,” he said.
He also explained that low rainfall in the dam water catchment areas since early January this year and high water consumption in the state have contributed to the current water situation.
In 2022, Penang sets a new record for water consumption at 868 MLD. For the first three months of 2023, PBAPP recorded an even higher average consumption figure of 876 MLD.
The Penang government has tried cloud seedings since May but the dam levels have continued to drop.
According to Chow, the Penang government has directed PBAPP to defend the raw water reserves of the Air Itam Dam and Teluk Bahang Dam at all costs this year.
As of noon today, the effective capacities at Air Itam Dam, Teluk Bahang Dam and Mengkuang Dam are 44%, 47% and 88.2% respectively.
At a press conference later, Pathmanathan said that PBAPP has reduced its daily drawdown from the Air Itam Dam from 22 MLD to 15 MLD.
“In June, the daily drawdown may be lowered further to defend the dam’s remaining raw water reserve.
“When the effective capacity of the Air Itam Dam falls below 30%, PBAPP may reduce daily drawdowns to the 10 MLD to 12 MLD range. This is the only rational option to manage the remaining raw water reserve of the dam to last until September.
“PBAPP also has been pumping more water from the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant in Seberang Perai to supply to as many peripheral areas around Air Itam as possible.
“This measure has reduced the service or supply area of the Air Itam Dam to encompass the premises of only 6,000 water consumers as compared to about 29,000 premises under normal conditions.
“Nevertheless, to play it safer, PBAPP also is urgently seeking the cooperation of water consumers in Air Itam to reduce their water consumption from now,” he said.
On a separate matter, Chow said he concurred with National Water Services Commission (SPAN) chairman Charles Santiago that all states must work together to manage water levels and cannot keep water resources to themselves.
“This has been the stand of the state government and PBAPP all these years.
“This is because water is a very valuable resource regardless of the political views and state territory borders. And all states must work together to achieve the purpose.
“The interest of every state should be prioritised along with the interest of the country.
“In the end, the Federal Government must be the one to decide and to facilitate the matter,” Chow said when asked to comment on Santiago’s recent remark.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis
Video by Ahmad Adil Muhamad