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PUB stops Johor water treatment operations due to ammonia pollution; supply to Singapore households not affected

Pipes carrying water from Malaysia to Singapore along the Causeway. (FILE PHOTO: Reuters/Edgar Su)
Pipes carrying water from Malaysia to Singapore along the Causeway. (FILE PHOTO: Reuters/Edgar Su)

Singapore’s national water agency PUB has suspended treatment operations at its Johor River Waterworks (JRWW) on Thursday afternoon (4 April), due to high levels of ammonia pollution in the Malaysian state’s Sungai Sayong, one of the creeks that supplies raw water to Sungai Johor.

In a media statement released on Thursday night, PUB said: “The stoppage of treatment operations at JRWW disrupted its water supply to Singapore and some parts of Johor.

“Water supply in Singapore is not affected, as PUB has stepped up production at the desalination plants and local waterworks to meet demand.

“PUB is monitoring the raw water quality in Johor River closely and will resume abstraction and treatment of raw water when water quality is suitable.”

Pollution disrupted water supply to 17,000 households in Kulai

According to Malaysian newspaper The Star, the ammonia pollution has disrupted water supply to about 17,000 households in the town of Kulai.

Jimmy Puah, chairman of Johor International Trade, Investment and Utility Committee and assemblyman of Bukit Patu constituency, told The Star that a reservoir at a bio-composite centre next to an oil palm refinery in Sedenak had burst on Wednesday morning, causing the ammonia-contaminated water to flow into Sungai Sayong.

He added that the authorities have taken the necessary action against the oil palm refinery by cancelling its raw water abstraction licence and serve a compound notice following the incident.

Under the 1962 Water Agreement, Singapore can draw up to 250 million gallons (946 million litres) of water a day from the Johor River, and is obliged to provide Johor with treated water amounting to up to 2 per cent of the water imported.


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