Selangor hires independent consultant to assess water from disused mining pools

(The Star) – An independent consultant is being engaged by the Selangor government to end doubts over the safety of using water from disused mining pools to replenish raw water in Sungai Selangor.

The state’s water task force Committee said the consultant, CH2MHILL, had agreed to undertake an objective assessment of drinking water safety and public health risks from supplementing Sungai Selangor with water stored in offline former mining pools.

“In spite of the high costs involved, the study will still be undertaken in the interest of ensuring water safety to consumers,” said the committee in press statement Monday.

CH2MHILL is an international consulting company specialising in design, design-build, operations and program management, with headquarters in Englewood, United Sates.

Consumer groups have expressed concern that water from the mining pools is contaminated with heavy metals and could worsen pollution in the river.

Sungai Selangor is the source of raw water for 62% of consumers in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

However, water reserves at Sungai Selangor and Bukit Tinggi dams, which release supply into the river during the dry season, have fallen to 32.74% and 46.19% respectively.

This has led to concerns of an impending water crisis.

However, the state government has stressed that rationing was unnecessary as water from alternative sources was being pumped into the river from disused mining pools, while ongoing cloud seeding operations have resulted in rains.