IWK denies pollution came from sewage plant

PETALING JAYA: Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK) has dispelled talk that its sewage treatment plant in Rawang discharged effluent into Sungai Gong, causing the river to turn black on Saturday.

IWK chief executive officer Narendran Maniam said they suspected that illegal waste was disposed near its Rawang Integrated Industrial Park sewage treatment plant and that the waste material had flowed into the plant.

An IWK staff yesterday identified a yellow, non-sewage waste discharged into the plant’s inlet chamber, causing effluent at the final process being contaminated with a deep yellow colour, said Narendran.

“Due to that, IWK stopped the effluent discharge and a cleaning process was carried out and completed on Sunday,” he said in a statement yesterday.

The plant in question is an oxidation ditch plant which is connected to 11,106 residents, covering only the industrial area.

IWK also expressed its frustration at often being made “an easy target” for any water pollution incidents without thorough inspections being conducted first.

Narendran was responding to a statement by the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) which said that a foamy and coloured effluent from an IWK plant in Rawang was traced in Sungai Gong on Saturday.

“This statement will confuse people and at the same time, point the finger of blame towards IWK when the real cause is probably due to illegal dumping of waste,” he said.

He said IWK always ensured the operation and maintenance work in all 7,000 plants under its supervision were in accordance with the specifications and procedures set by the authorities.

“Sewage treatment plants are only designed to treat wastewater and are not capable of treating any chemicals or other waste that is illegally discharged into the sewer pipeline. Non-sewage waste is often put into sewer chambers by irresponsible parties.

“So, it is better for all parties to work together to address the issue of actual pollution,” he said.

“Disposal of non-sewage waste is an offence under the Water Services Industry Act,” added Narendran.

On Saturday, Luas confirmed receiving a report on the discolouration of water in Sungai Gong and investigations found there was no smell coming from the water, with the discolouration suspected to have been caused by dyes.

Luas also said that further investigations found the discharge of the foamy and coloured effluent in the river was from an IWK sewage treatment plant in the Rawang industrial area.