Is MB Lying or Ignorant?

We know Penang sourced her water from Sg Muda. But do you know that there are many catchment areas - from Muda Dam to Baling and even Gunung Bintang (Sg Sedim). Look at the topo map here and understand the flow from different rivers to Sg Muda. After going through the map, tell me whether this MB is lying or pure ignorant!

Read the story below...

Observe the blue lines....the rivers flowing toward Sg Muda

Tuesday May 29, 2012

Kedah MB: Water catchment areas not affected by logging

JITRA: Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak on Tuesday defended the logging activities taking place in Baling forests saying water catchment areas were not affected.

He said the Kedah Forestry Department had made it a condition that the water catchment areas should not be affected in issuing logging concessions.

He told this to reporters after handing over land ownership titles to settlers of Felda Bukit Tangga here.

He was responding to allegations by Kedah Umno chief Datuk Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah that the logging activities impacted water catchment areas.

Ahmad Bashah had made the claims at a press conference on Sunday.

On Friday, some 300 Umno Youth and Puteri Umno members from the Baling Umno division had staged a peaceful demonsration to protest the PAS-led Kedah's government move to allow the logging activities, claiming that waterways there had become polluted because of it.

On this, Azizan said tests carried out by the Kedah Drainage and Irrigation showed the claims were not true. - Bernama

Tales of water

Opinion 2009-12-08 11:53
My Sinchew

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said that in order to reduce business costs, the government may reduce electricity and water tariffs next year to safeguard the welfare of the industrial sector and consumers.

It is weird that just a few days ago, the Johor state government announced that water tariffs in Johor will be increased by 12% next year.

Even weird, water tariffs in Johor have already been the highest in the country and it is now heading towards the opposition direction and becomes more expensive.

According to the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water, Johor, Sabah and Labuan are having the highest average domestic water tariff, which is 90 sen per cubic metre (m3). It is nearly two times as expensive as the average domestic water tariff (31 sen/m3) in Penang! As for the average industrial water tariff, Johor tops the list with RM2.93/m3, which is much more expensive than Selangor (RM1.91/m3) that ranked the second highest on the list. It is over two times as expensive as the average industrial water tariff in Sabah and Labuan (both 90 sen/m3)!

Don't forget that Johor also exports water. Its sells water to Singapore, as well as Malacca.

But in Malacca, both domestic and industrial water tariffs are (72 sen/m3 and RM1.40/m3 respectively) cheaper compared to Johor.

It is weird, isn't it?

x x x

Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew once said: “Other policies have to kneel down in front of water.”

Putting ourselves in his shoes, we can understand Lee's feeling.

Singapore has to rely on water supply from Johor over the years. If they no longer renew the contract, Johor will stop supplying water to Singapore.

In fact, Singapore has long been ready. It has been looking for new water supply sources and doing researches and developments in water technology over the past 30 years.

In 2005, Singapore opened its first desalination plant to produce about 30 million gallons of water per day.

A greater achievement was made in 2002 when Singapore unveiled its NEWater to meet 35% of its water needs.

Hyflux Group and its founder Olivia Lum should be mentioned here when we are talking about NEWater.

Olivia Lum, Singapore's Queen of Water, who helped Singapore to get rid of “water crisis” used to be a Malaysian orphan but she is now a Singapore citizen.

It is surprising, isn't it?

x x x

In fact, we should review and reflect.

Scientists said that due to the impact of global warming, the Himalayan glaciers are gradually melting, causing 1.3 billion of Asian people to face a water crisis.

Perhaps we are still far from the end of the world but it may be our future to suffer a water crisis.

Don't let our tears to be the last drop of water! (By LIM MUN FAH/ Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/ Sin Chew Daily)

Water Wastage

I save water everyday as much as I can. In the public toilets, I had many times closed the dripping taps. Some taps were running as if water was free. I don't understand why some people are so inconsiderate.

I have been using less water at home.

But, I come to think of it, the water wastage, the free flowing water, everywhere....get me wondering. Is it worth my effort to save a little while there you see so many wastages. Water flowing by hours and by days into the drain.

Let me show you some wastages.

Picture below was taken yesterday (4th June 2008) at Mak Mandin, Butterworth. Fuel price was announnced by PM. I was cruising along Jalan Raja Uda and there was a big congestion at a petrol station as everyone is trying to fill up their tanks. I make a diversion and ended up in a small lane. And here I aw a leaking pipe...not 1 but 3 leaks.

Watch the video of the 3 leaking pipes below.

Below: Early yesterday, along the main road at Bagan Jermal, Butterworth there was this huge gust of water from the ground. Nobody living beside this water wastage seemed to take any notice. When I phoned the water authority, it was the first report.

Below: This leakage was found below the Jelutong Expressway Bridge over Sg Pinang, just a stone throw from JKR. Apparently, some people are using the free flowing water for bathing.

Below: Just 5 meters from the manhole above, another leakage from a huge pipe. Water was flowing none stop. I haven't followup on this leakage yet.

Another terrible leakage was at Jalan Thomas, Bukit Dumbar which was below the Bukit Dumbar reservoir - the PBA office. Imagine people working there are not aware of this leakage and it needs someone living in Butterworth to report his water leak. Well, metal thief had stolen the valve.

It hurts when you make an effort to save as much as you can but the little that we saved cannot compare to the enormous wastages as seen above. So, should I continue to save and report water leakage? Or just keep my busy body business and shut up? What's your say?

I had the water utility phone number in my phone book. And I always call this number (04-5096509) to report. I think I have been reporting many cases. I wasted my time, my phone bill and still finding so much water leakage everywhere I went.

Don't tell me not even one worker or staff from the water authority that does not use the same road as I used? Selfish of the employees!

I reported the water wastage not because I wanted to enrich the utility company - but my love for enviroment, the scarcity of water and our future hinged on this beautiful natural resources - waste not a drop, ok!

Proper water management vital, says Raja Nazrin

Star Online
Tuesday April 1, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR: Global competition and even conflicts in water usage are likely to occur if proper water resource management is not carried out immediately, the Regent of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah said.

He said the world's population was expected to increase by 30% in 2025, and the pressure of fresh water for human consumption would become more critical.

The prince said some 1.2 billion people were now without access to safe drinking water and half of the world's population lacked adequate water purification systems while some 2.4 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation, posimg contamination to water resources.

Raja Nazrin said a growing population coupled with the fast pace of socio-economic and industrial development, especially over the last three decades, hadimposed greater demands on water supply.

He added rapid urbanisation, industrial and intensive agricultural activities and widespread land development had collectively contributed to extensive water quality deterioration, loss or reduction of catchment areas and flooding.

"Malaysians are seemingly spoilt living in a country rich in resources and abundant with water. However, with weather conditions changing rapidly as a result of global warming, we might find ourselves in such a position in the not too distant future.

"Therefore, it is vital that we put in place comprehensive policies that are effectively implemented to ensure that we will never be in a situation where this basic commodity to survival is not available," he said when opening of the Fifth Asiawater Expo and Forum 2008 at the KL Convention Centre here Tuesday.

The international event showcases water and wastewater industry products from 535 exhibitors from 34 countries.

Raja Nazrin said Malaysia recently adopted the integrated water resources management concept in its management of its water resources as outlined in the Third Outline Perspective Plan and the subsequent Eighth and Ninth Malaysia Plans.

"While innovative technologies will be required to ensure effective and efficient water supply, water demand and water quality systems, the success of these holistic management initiatives requires the support and participation of all stakeholders both from the public and private sectors including the NGOs," he added.

Raja Nazrin called on the expo participants to provide practical solutions to improve the efficiency of water usage, reduction of wastage and propose technologies and management practices that could stretch scarce water supplies much further.

Expanding Mengkuang Dam - Is it environmentally wise? (Part I)

Another project is on the pipeline. Expanding a dam 4 times the size of the present Mengkuang Dam. Will it be another white elephant?

If you look down from a plane over Bukit Mertajam, you will notice that the hills around Mengkuang Dam are relatively low. Could they provide enough water to fill up the extra large dam?


The picture below was taken on 4th April 2007. It was quite full because for the past few months, it has been raining heavily around the dam. But until early 2007, the dam had been very low.
To prove that there are not enough water to feed the dam, I organised a hike on 12 May 07. These were my findings:

1. There are 12 streams - several are seasonal.
2. Fishing, rubbish and camping at Mengkuang Dam.
3. Illegal immigrants and occupants in catchment area.
4. Illegal trees cutting and harvesting of bamboo.
5. Farmers staying in catchment area.
6. Rich in fauna and flora.

In this report, I will show the 12 streams below:

All the streams were numbered from anti-clockwise.1st Stream - this stream could be flowing from a house above the slope. It flows under the road to the dam.

2nd Stream. This is the only sensible large stream - not even capable of naming it as river.

3rd Stream. This could be a seasonal stream.

4th Stream. Durians and other fruiting trees were found in the catchment area. Fertilizer could be flowing into the dam.

5th Stream. Found on the motorized path. Difinately a seasonal stream.


6th Stream. Barren and hardly any water under a wooden bridge. Rain water just rush down.

7th Stream. Tickling water during this raining days. No water during drought.

8th Stream. The illegal immigrants' huts were near this small stream. Pipe was seen diverting the water to the huts.

9th Stream. This stream flows direct into the dam from huge boulder.

10th Stream. This was the sensible clean stream that flow the whole year. Even the kayak rowers knew about this stream and they frequent this stream to bathe.

11th Stream. This stream was tapped upstream to supply water to another second group of illegal immigrants. (1.5km away from the first group)

12th Stream. It was dry on our visit. I believe it is only flowing when it rains.

Conclusion:

With little water to feed the dam, enlarging the dam doesn't make any sense. But according to the CM, water from Muda River will be pumped to fill Mengkuang Dam. Water from Muda River is filled with silt and eventually, the large Mengkuang Dam will get shallower and the carrying capacity will be back to square one.

There is no point acquiring land for catchment and dam building if farmers and illegals are free to occupy them.

There are some big trees and interesting fauna found in the catchment area. We saw a group of butterflies and interesting bird life in the area too.

In my next issue, I will show case some interesting findings worth protecting.

So, do you think enlarging this dam is neccessary? BTW, in Calcutta, the Indians store their water in huge water tanks as large as several football fields. No silting, no evaporation and no loss of water through the ground. Can we follow them to build tanks?

I Used 172 liters Per Day. You?

Coping With Water Scarcity - the theme for today's Water Watch Day for Penang State.

At the opening ceremony, the chairman of Water Watch Penang, Dr Chan mentioned about the scarcity and the amount of water he used per day. Penang is a poor state in term of water sources availability. Hence, we just can't take water for granted anymore.

There is one point he mentioned that I would like to share here - the toilet flush! Little did I know that what I have been doing was also practised by Dr Chan. He usually flushed the toilet after several calls. For every 3 calls you only flush once then you are actually saving 2 X 18 liters of water per day. If a million Penangites will to save 32 liters per day. How much liters for a million? Calculated as 1000000 X 32 liters = 32000000! A whooping 32 million liters per day.

How I do it
When at home, I will frequent the toilet every 1.5 hours. For the whole daylight hour (12 hrs), I would have used the toilet for 8 times. Usually I only flush when it stinks! And the stinking only happened about 6 hours later. So for a day I only flush twice - saving 6 X 32 liters = 192 liters.

I checked my latest PBA's bill (April 2007). My household used 31000 liters for duration of 2 months. FYI, Penang's water bills are send out every two month.

Calculation - My Household Water Consumption
31000 liters divided by 2 mths = 15500 liters per month
15500 liters divided by 30 days = 516.6 liters per day
516.6 liters divided by 3 persons in my household = 172 liters per person per day.

After looking at the 192 liters that I saved from the flushing of my toilet, I now realize the important of NOT flushing. The orang asli don't have flush toilet. When I was living in Kampung in the 60s, I used bucket system - unhygienic but I don't flush. When I go camping I don't flush. There are no toilet in the jungle and there is no need to flush after each release. Don't you think modern day livings are sheer wastage? Not eco-friendly? Depleting natural resources?

Now you have this option to save water:
Reduce your flushing of the toilet (if it stinks then use a small scoop of water instead)

Or perhaps, we should go primitive.

I used 172 liters per day! You? Let me know ok?