Constant water cuts an embarrassment
WITH the water restructuring exercise for the Klang Valley further delayed, businessmen and residents feel the authorities are not serious in resolving the impending water crisis.
A businessman, who declined to be named, said both the Selangor and Federal governments should put aside their differences and get down to solving the problem.
If this goes on, consumers can only cross their fingers and hope there will not be too many disruptions to the water supply as what they endured the last few years.
Dry taps are a common occurrence in Selangor of late due to the lack of a buffer – the Klang Valley has a negative water reserve margin of 1.5%, way below the 20% safe margin.
The current water treatment plants in Selangor are operating beyond full capacity, and any incidence, such as contamination scare or dry spell, could quickly result in water supply disruption in the Klang Valley.
It is also common knowledge that in Selangor’s case, huge volume of water is lost as a result of ageing pipes and that there is an urgent need to invest in new pipes to bring down non-revenue water (NRW) from the current 35%.
NRW for Selangor is currently estimated at RM400mil per year, where 1.5 million cubic metres is lost daily through water leakage in the distribution network. This amount is enough to serve one third of the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur population.
Water cuts, especially when unscheduled, are a great inconvenience to the public. — filepic
As it stands, the deadline for Selangor’s water restructuring exercise has been postponed from April to October 2017.
The delay in the exercise has a domino effect in tackling the low water reserve margin issue; the Federal Government will only release money for capital expenditure and pipe replacement when the restructuring exercise is concluded.
Meanwhile, the risk of breakdowns become higher when there are insufficient funds to carry out maintenance works with the overloading at present.
With this ongoing impasse between the Federal and Selangor governments, business operators and residents continue to brace themselves for more water cuts, especially with a dry spell expected next month.
During the 2014 water rationing, Top Glove, a rubber glove manufacturer, reported millions in unnecessary losses arising from having to buy water and pay for extra transportation costs to ensure production would not be delayed.
It was said that some of the company’s 18 factories in Selangor were affected by water rationing.
It was said that some of the company’s 18 factories in Selangor were affected by water rationing.
Lim says domestic water tariffs should be sufficient to raise money for necessary capital expenditure, such as addressing NRW losses.
Recently, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) called on the Government to consider streamlining and federalising the management of water like it did with electricity years ago.
Hair and image consultant Michael Poh, whose business often face difficulties because of water cuts, said the situation was unacceptable.
“In this advanced age in the city, it is embarrassing that we are still having problems with water supply,” said Poh, who hoped the authorities would get their act together soon for everybody’s sake," he said.
FMM president Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai said in a statement that domestic water tariffs, which varied from state to state, should reflect the true cost of water to reduce wastage and encourage conservation.
“Tariffs should also be sufficient to raise money for necessary capital expenditure such as addressing NRW losses,” he said.
Lim said NRW loss in Malaysia averaged at 40% due to longstanding issues such as leakages, burst pipes and theft.
He also pointed out that water rationing and unscheduled interruptions in the last few years had adversely affected manufacturing production resulting in loss of millions of ringgit.
Lim added that investors’ confidence was also affected due to the delay in resolving the water restructuring exercise involving both the Selangor and Federal governments.
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