Looks like water rationing has officially ended in Selangor. Hurray! According to the Mentri Besar, Selangor has enough supply of potable water even during the dry seasons.
The solution was so simple. Disused mining ponds. Why hadn't anyone thought of it earlier? The Selangor ADUNs do deserve their double and triple pay increments after all don't they?
Questions:
1. Why didn't the Selangor Government do this earlier instead of imposing water rationing? Did they just discovered the mining ponds last week?
2. Where did they get the water from over the past few years when Selangor was spared from rationing? Have they been getting water from the mining ponds?
3. Could the 2012 UM study which found heavy metal contamination in the mining pond be flawed? News articles reported that the study found contamination in the sediments, but they did not mention the water. Perhaps the water is not too badly contaminated. When water is pumped from the ponds, don't the sediments get pumped along as well?
Well, I suppose a bit more harmful contaminants won't make much of a difference to the already unclean water we are getting now. Just be thankful that this is not taking place in Perak where many of the mining ponds there are contaminated with radioactive waste from the Bukit Merah disaster.
I wonder if they have any plans to replace those old leaking and poisonous pipes?
Has it occurred to anyone that our health, and lives, are literally in their hands of a small but powerful group of people?
On a lighter note, for those who missed the boat in the plastic bucket business, I think this is a good time to be in the water filter business.
El Nino: Selangor has no plans to implement water rationing
SHAH ALAM, June 11 (Bernama) -- The Selangor govt has no plans to re-implement water rationing in the state even if the state is hit by another dry season as a result of the El-Nino phenomenon.
Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said the state government need not resort to water rationing as it had put in place contingency plans should the El-Nino dry season persist over the next three months.
"We have been informed by Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (LUAS) and the Selangor Economic Planning Unit that work to pump raw water from former mining pools or ponds in the Sungai Selangor riverine system will continue to overcome the problem of shortage of raw water," he told reporters after chairing the weekly state executive council meeting here today.
He said 20 pumps capable of pumping 800 million litres of water were in place for the purpose. - http://www.mysinchew.com/node/98990?tid=4
Klang MP threatens to sue unless Selangor admits pond water hazardous
KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 ― Selangor must release the results of studies proving that water from a disused tin mining pond in Bestari Jaya was not safe for consumption, Klang MP Charles Santiago said today as he threatened to sue the state government over the matter.
Despite repeated claims otherwise, Santiago said Selangor did not provide “not a shred of evidence” to counter studies that showed that there are high levels of concentration of heavy metals in water and soil from the pond.
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/klang-mp-threatens-to-sue-unless-selangor-admits-pond-water-hazardous#sthash.DWMRMfIp.dpuf
Selangor MB insists tin mining pond water safe, findings out tomorrow
KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Water extracted from disused tin mining ponds in Selangor are safe for consumption, state Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim maintained today as he dismissed a fellow Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmaker’s claim to the contrary.
Khalid also said the findings of the results of pond waters tested in the state, including from the allegedly hazardous pond in Bestari Jaya, will be made public from tomorrow, through the Selangor Water Management Board (LUAS) website.
“We are very happy to open up because we are checking every week and the results will be uploaded (on LUAS) website so there is no need to sue,” Khalid told a press conference after chairing the joint Langat 2 dam task force committee in Parliament here.
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/selangor-mb-insists-tin-mining-pond-water-safe-findings-out-tomorrow#sthash.F11LQiDY.dpuf
UM study shows mine water contaminated
April 29, 2014
PETALING JAYA: Two studies conducted in 2010 and 2012 by Universiti Malaya have shown that water from old mining pools at Bestari Jaya is contaminated with heavy metal.
Klang MP Charles Santiago said Muhammad Ashraf Aqeel, Mohd Jamil and Ismail Yusuf from the chemistry and geology department of Universiti Malaya carried out the study.
“It clearly contradicts the position taken by the Selangor government in allowing water from Bestari Jaya mining ponds to be pumped into Sungai Selangor,” said Santiago.
“Once pumped, the mine pool water will contaminate Sungai Selangor. Our treatment plants cannot treat or clean heavy metal or toxic pollution,” added Santiago.
The 2012 study showed that old mining pond sediments were polluted with arsenic (8.8%), chromium (12.9%), copper (17.4%), lead (19.5%), zinc (14.9) and tin (33.8%).
- http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/04/29/um-study-shows-mine-water-contaminated/
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