GEORGE TOWN, The commissioning of Package 12A at the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant (WTP) will increase Penang's water treatment capacity by up to 114 million litres per day (MLD) from this month. Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) chief executive officer Datuk K. Pathmanathan said Package 12A, which will be officially opened on Sept 14, refers to a new water treatment module within the premise of the Sungai Dua WTP, built rapidly in response to higher post-pandemic water demand. He said the Sungai Dua WTP is Penang's largest and most important water treatment plant, supplying treated water to approximately 465,000 consumers daily. 'Accordingly, the beneficiaries of Package 12A are the 465,000 water consumers in this WTP's service areas. On the mainland, the service areas of the Sungai Dua WTP include most areas in Seberang Perai Utara (SPU), Seberang Perai Tengah (SPT) and Seberang Perai Selatan (SPS). 'Treated water from the Sungai Dua WTP is also pumped to consumers in Daerah Barat Daya (DBD) a nd some areas in Daerah Timur Laut (DTL) on Penang Island,' he said in a statement today. This year, Pathamanathan said PBAPP is also pumping up to 33 MLD of water from Sungai Dua to the Air Itam service area under its Air Itam Dam Action Plan 2024 (AIDAP 2024). Meanwhile, he said work has also commenced on the project to lay a new 1.35 m river-crossing pipeline at Sungai Perai, near the Ampang Jajar Bridge. 'This pipeline is scheduled for commissioning in Jan 2026. When completed, this Sungai Perai River-Crossing Pipeline will allow PBAPP to pump higher volumes of treated water from the Sungai Dua WTP to Penang Island. 'This measure will address sporadic water shortage issues in some high ground and end-of-line (EoL) neighbourhoods in DBD and some areas of DTL. He added that this river-crossing pipeline is being laid to supply more water to about 120,000 water consumers on Penang Island, including the factories in the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone, as well as enhance the stability of water supply services in the western, south-western and southern parts of the island. Source: BERNAMA News Agency