THE water level at the Air Itam Dam on Penang island has decreased to 66.7%, but it was sufficient to supply water for up to 66 days, including during the scheduled four-day disruption from January 10.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the significant decrease was attributed to a pipe leak in Sungai Perai, Butterworth, as it required an increased production of treated water from the Air Itam reservoir.

“It was found the Air Itam dam water level is 66.7%, and I was informed the Sungai Perai incident caused a decline from the previous water level of 83% as the production of treated water was around 22 million litres per day (MLD) before this.

“However, when the pipe leaked, the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) had to increase the production of treated water from the Air Itam reservoir to 40 MLD due to disrupted supply in several areas at the time, to be distributed to those experiencing supply problems.

“It is expected the water percentage at the Air Itam dam will decrease to 57% in the coming week, during the scheduled disruption, as PBAPP needs to extract more water for treatment from there to distribute to affected residents until January 15,” he told reporters after the ground-breaking ceremony for the Capstone Business Suite project in Batu Kawan today.

Chow said this when asked to comment on the decrease in the water level at the Air Itam dam, which was seen as significant compared with two weeks ago.

Chow said the state government was not planning to request cloud-seeding due to the reduced water level at the Air Itam reservoir as it was not at a critical level.

“It is not easy to carry out cloud seeding – it needs to take into account many factors, and I also feel it has not reached a critical level. However, I urge the residents in this state to continue to conserve water, especially closer to the Chinese New Year, which is usually a dry season,” he said.

A total of 590,000 water users, including non-domestic consumers, were expected to be affected by the water supply disruption due to the closure of the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant to make way for the replacement of two damaged 1,200mm valves.

PBAPP announced the 96-hour disruption would start at 6am on January 10 and end at 6am on January 14, and would involve ancillary works at 22 locations across Penang. – Bernama, January 6, 2024.