GEORGE TOWN: The Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang (PBAPP) will continue implementing the Air Itam Dam Action Plan (AIDAP) in 2025 to prevent water shortages in the Air Itam and Farlim municipalities, as well as surrounding areas.
Its chief executive officer, Datuk K. Pathmanathan, said the main reason for implementing AIDAP 2025 is the capacity of the Air Itam Dam. The dam has been operational since 1963 and has a maximum storage capacity of 2,159 million litres (ML). This is significantly smaller than the maximum storage capacity of the Teluk Bahang Dam (18,240 ML) and the Expanded Mengkuang Dam (86,400 ML).
“As of yesterday, the Air Itam Dam had an adequate capacity recorded at 76.7 per cent. However, without rainfall or any engineering interventions, the water supply is expected to decrease rapidly next year.
“Although international weather reports do not forecast another hot and dry El Nino phenomenon in 2025, it is wise to act cautiously to avoid potential water shortages,” he said in a statement today.
As such, he said that PBAPP would continue to implement three key AIDAP protocols in 2025. These protocols include limiting the daily water release from the Air Itam Dam to 22 million litres (MLD) and pumping up to 33 MLD of treated water from the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant (LRA) in Seberang Perai to serve the Air Itam Dam area.
In addition, Pathmanathan said PBAPP would also optimise the production of treated water at the Air Itam LRA based on the availability of raw water from two additional water sources.
He added this year, the successful implementation of these three protocols ensured there were no significant water supply issues in Air Itam and Farlim despite the prolonged hot and dry conditions caused by the El Nino phenomenon.
Meanwhile, he said the situation in the Teluk Bahang Dam service area was also less encouraging, with the dam’s adequate capacity recorded at 61.7 per cent yesterday.
However, he said the Teluk Bahang Dam is much larger, and in terms of actual volume, its adequate capacity is 18,240 ML, or 844.8 per cent more than the Air Itam Dam’s 2,159 ML.
“Unfortunately, although PBAPP may implement AIDAP to support the Air Itam Dam, we may not pump treated water from Seberang Perai to the Teluk Bahang Dam service area,“ he said.
Pathmanathan also said data showing that the average domestic water consumption in Penang was 284 litres per capita per day (LCD) in 2023, far higher than the national average (237 LCD) and Singapore’s (141 LCD).
“High per capita domestic consumption has implications, including a higher risk of a water crisis when users consume more than what the dams can supply during drought seasons,” he said.
