Operations at PUB’s Johor River Waterworks temporarily suspended after 2 water pollution incidents

Operations at Singapore's national water agency PUB's Johor River Waterworks have been temporarily suspended after a water pollution incident affected the Johor River.

In response to media queries, PUB affirmed that Singapore's water supply remains "unaffected", as production at local plants has been increased to meet demand.

"PUB is monitoring the raw water quality in the Johor River closely," the agency said. "Operations will resume when water quality checks show that the Johor River quality is back to normal."

Multi-agency monitoring efforts

In a Facebook post on Nov. 1, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said that several Singapore agencies are keeping a close watch on water bodies in Johor following two separate pollution incidents.

According to NEA, one of the incidents, which was caused by sand mining activities, affected the Johor River, while the other incident, which involved a palm oil spill, affected the coastal waters off Kampung Pasir Putih in Johor.

The agency said that it is in contact with Johor's Department of Environment, and "understands that the sources of pollution from both incidents have been contained and stopped".

"Oil cleanup is also ongoing and most of the palm oil has been cleaned up," NEA stated.

NEA also assured that Singapore's water quality remains normal, with no impact detected along the nation's shoreline so far.

It added that the country's fish farms remain unaffected, and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) is working closely with fish farms in the East Johor Strait to implement preventive measures.

The National Parks Board (NParks) has also not observed any impact at biodiversity-rich sites such as Pulau Ubin, Coney Island Park, Pasir Ris Park and Changi Beach Park.

PUB continues to monitor water quality at coastal reservoirs near the East Johor Strait closely.

"So far there are no sightings of palm oil near our tidal gates," NEA stated. "We do not expect any impact to operations at our desalination plants, which are located in the Southern part of Singapore."

NEA also highlighted that Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) patrol craft are equipped with absorbent materials, with oil recovery equipment on standby in case activation is required.

Details of the pollution incidents

According to Bernama, the DOE confirmed that damage to a "bund silt pond" is believed to have been caused by sand dredging activities in upstream Sungai Johor, Kota Tinggi.

Johor's water regulatory body, Badan Kawalselia Air Johor, has ordered the immediate suspension of sand dredging operations, and repair works on the damaged bund have been instructed to begin.

Earlier, Bernama also reported that more than 100 fishermen were affected by what was believed to be a palm oil spill that contaminated the coastal waters at Kampung Pasir Putih on Oct. 30.

The head of the Kampung Pasir Putih Fishermen’s Association, Hamzah Allahdita, said the spill is estimated to have spread across a 1km stretch and is suspected to have originated from a nearby palm oil processing plant.

 Top photo via Google Maps