GEORGE TOWN – The Sg Dua water treatment plant, which currently supplies treated water to 80% of consumers in Penang, will see its maximum capacity increased by 114 million litres per day (MLD) starting this month.
Penang Water Supply Corporation chief executive officer Datuk K. Pathmanathan said this is possible as Package 12A of the plant, a new water treatment module, will begin operations.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow is to officially open Package 12A on September 14.
Built in response to higher post-pandemic water demand in the state, the new module will increase the plant’s maximum water treatment capacity from 1,228 MLD to 1,342 MLD.
The Sg Dua plant supplies treated water to 465,000 consumers in mainland Penang, as well as the entire Southwest district and some parts of Northeast district on the island.
Pathmanathan also said the corporation is pumping up to 33 MLD of water from the Sg Dua treatment plant to the Air Itam dam’s service area this year under the water company’s Air Itam Dam Action Plan 2024 (AIDAP 2024).
AIDAP 2024 comprises several contingency plans undertaken by the corporation since early this year to maintain water levels at the Air Itam dam, which is the state’s smallest dam where capacity percentage dropped to 32.4% in mid-February due to dry weather.
The dam services 170,000 consumers in Air Itam, Paya Terubong and several parts of Green Lane.
New water pipeline in Sg Perai
Pathmanathan also said that work has commenced to lay a new 180m river-crossing pipeline at Sg Perai near the Ampang Jajar bridge in Butterworth. The pipeline is scheduled to be commissioned in January 2026.
“When completed, this Sg Perai river-crossing pipeline will allow the corporation to carry more flow and volume of treated water from the Sg Dua treatment plant to Penang island.
“This measure will address the sporadic water shortage issues in some high ground and end-of-line neighbourhoods in the Southwest district and some areas of the Northeast district,” he added.
This new pipeline will replace the existing temporary twin pipeline that was built along the Ampang Jajar bridge in January after the riverbed pipe at the same site burst twice, ast December and in January, which affected the water supply to the Butterworth area as well as to the island.
This pipeline would supply more water to about 120,000 consumers on the island, including the factories in Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone (FTZ). – September 8, 2024