Excess Ammonia? More like Hydrogen Sulphide!

Hah. Akhirnya hilanglah bau yang menghantui kami di Selangor dan KL. Tapi, kenapa Kerajaan Selangor tak mengeluarkan Kenyataan Akhbar dari awal, supaya tidak dimaki, dikecam, dikutuk dan tidak dilemparkan dengan tohmahan dan tuduhan yang bukan bukan?


Residents happy water no longer smells bad

KUALA LUMPUR: The stench in the water has diminished and some residents are calling for a rebate for the smelly water.

On Monday, readers of The Star complained that they could not drink, wash or cook with the water that flowed from their household taps because of a foul odour emitting from it.

Some went as far as saying that the water smelled of faeces.

But the Selangor state government said the water was safe to drink and was not contaminated.

Read more ....



UPDATE:

AMMONIA IN THE WATER??

The Malay Mail reported this afternoon that:

An official from Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd gave this explanation to State Multimedia, Environment and New Village Development Permanent Committee chairman, Datuk Ch'ng Toh Eng, yesterday.

Ch’ng was informed that the ammonia reading at the three phases of the scheme stood at 1.2 parts per million (ppm), which is below the normal reading of 1.5ppm.

"I was told that the ammonia level in Sungai Selangor was very high, recording a reading of more than 9ppm on Feb 25. However, it has come down to a safe level."

Ch’ng said he was told that chlorine had to be added to reduce the ammonia content.

"However, the mixture of the two elements created the foul stench," he said.

Ch’ng said the smell would disappear in the next few days. "I have asked the Department of Environment to investigate the reason for the excessive ammonia in the river," he said.

Ch’ng said the water was safe for drinking.

"The health department has given the assurance that the water is drinkable and poses no threat to health," he said.

It was reported in The Malay Mail yesterday that thousands of Klang Valley households had received stinking water from their taps since last Saturday.

Now, let us try to understand the report:

1. Normal reading of ammonia in water should be 1.5 parts per million (ppm);
2. Recorded level (yesterday?) was 1.2 ppm. Meaning that this is below the maximum level allowed; BUT
3. On Feb 25, the recorded level was 9 ppm.

How did the ammonia get into the water? They will investigate, according to Dato Ch'ng.

But according to a journalist friend,

"Hari tu hujan lebat bang, jadi paras air sungai naik dan telah melimpah ke dalam takungan air di loji. Dan bang, kebetulan ada kilang yang mengambil kesempatan dari hujan yang lebat itu telah membuang sisa toksid kilang yang mengandungi ammonia ke dalam sungai."

And now this answers the question of how the excess ammonia got landed in the water. But why tell us of excess ammonia in the water. Is ammonia used in the process of filtering water? Not that we know of. Chlorine, definetely.

But to quote Dato Ch'ng, ""The health department has given the assurance that the water is drinkable and poses no threat to health."

It might be OK with you Dato. I'm not.