By Mustakim Ramli
SHAH ALAM, March 14 — Sungai Bernam has the potential to become one of the main water sources for the residents in Klang Valley, says the Selangor Water Authority Board (Luas).
In a report by Kosmo! yesterday, the state agency said that the river basin has an estimated capacity to produce 2,000 million litres of treated water a day.
“Sungai Bernam is the largest river basin in Selangor and currently it is the main water source of the paddy irrigation system for the Selangor Northwest Project in Sabak Bernam,” the Malay daily quoted Luas.
The agency said Sungai Bernam also supply water to four water treatments (WTPs), namely the Kalumpang WTP, Sungai WTP, Sungai Dusun WTP and Bernam River Headwork (water supply and irrigation) with a total average capacity of 50 million litres a day.
Luas, however, said activities held near the Sungai Bernam river basin had caused several occurrences of river water quality management issues.
It said among the recorded incidents include the suspended operation of the Sungai Selisik WTP due to the release of effluent from livestock farms and diesel oil tanker accident that resulted in an oil spill.
“Therefore, there is a need to holistically manage the river basin with the cooperation from the Perak state government in managing the pollution issues involving areas along the borders,” it added.
The Sungai Bernama river basin covers an area of 3,335 square kilometres, stretching 216 kilometres. The river originates from Gunung Liang Timur, which is the border point between Selangor, Perak and Pahang.
About 35 per cent of the river is located in Selangor, while the remaining in Perak.
At present, 60 per cent of the main water source in Selangor comes from Sungai Selangor, with 20 per cent from Sungai Lanagt and 10 per cent from Sungai Klang.
