IPOH, Jan 7 — A total of 19,000 consumer accounts in Parit Buntar, Tanjung Piandang, Bagan Tiang and Kuala Kurau will face water supply disruption following the temporarily closure of the Jalan Baru water treatment plant (LRA) in Bagan Serai beginning today.

Perak Public Amenities, Infrastructure, Agriculture and Plantation Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Yunus Jamahri said the move was to allow water quality restoration.

He said investigations by the Perak Water Board (LAP) discovered that the quality of water channelled from Tasik Bukit Merah had deteriorated.

"LAP sought the help of the Department of Irrigation and Drainage to open the water gate in Pekan Batu 5 to enable water to be released in restoring raw water quality in the canal.

"Hence closure of the Jalan Baru treatment plant is a mitigation measure,” he said in a statement here today.

However, he added that consumers living around Kuala Kurau area would receive water supply from Gunung Semanggol LRA while water tankers would be provided in other affected areas.

 "For now, the raw water is being monitored and there has been some improvement in the quality, he said adding that the Jalan Baru LRA would resume operation as soon as the water quality is restored.

Jalan Baru LRA, with a 50 million litre per day capacity, supplies water to three main towns in the Kerian district namely Parit Buntar, Tanjung Piandang and Kuala Kurau and in normal situation, the LRA supplies 26 million litres of water per day. — Bernama