KUALA LUMPUR: Unscheduled water supply disruptions, which affected close to half a million premises in Petaling, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang on Sunday and yesterday, have begun to be scaled back.

Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) said in a statement yesterday that the disruptions were due to decreased production of treated water by the Sungai Semenyih water treatment plant, Bernama reported.

“This happened when the ammonia and manganese content in the river water exceeded the level permitted by the Health Ministry,” the statement said.

The Selangor Water Management Authority and Syarikat Konsortium Abass Sdn Bhd (Abass) were in the process of identifying the cause of the contamination, it said.

Operations at the treatment plant would resume depending on the contamination level, Syabas said.

As a result, 39 areas in Petaling, 216 in Hulu Langat, 62 in Kuala Langat and 61 in Sepang experienced water disruption and low water pressure.

In a second statement yesterday, Syabas said that it had been informed by Abass that ammonia and manganese levels in the Sungai Semenyih had dropped to levels permitted by the Health Ministry.

At press time, it said, almost all the areas affected by the unscheduled water cut had begun to be supplied with treated water in stages. (see table)

To ease the burden on affected consumers, Syabas said that it will be supplying water in lorry tankers and static water tanks to the areas where supply was still disrupted.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 17, 2015.