SINGAPORE — The Republic has begun supplying more potable water to Johor at the request of the Malaysian state’s water regulatory body.

Since June 4, national water agency PUB has pumped in an extra six million gallons of potable water a day to Johor, the agency said in a press release on Monday (June 6). 

Badan Kawalselia Air Johor had asked for the extra gallons for a month to supplement the water supply in areas served by Johor’s Sungai Layang dam, which has been hit severely by the continuing dry spell.

The extra water supply comes from the Johor River Waterworks, which PUB operates in Johor.

The agency said that this arrangement was temporary, would be subject to regular review, and would not affect Singapore’s water supply in the short term.

It is also monitoring the situation at Johor’s Linggiu Reservoir, which improves the water yield at the Johor River, from which both Singapore and Johor draw water. 

PUB operates the reservoir and dry conditions have brought water levels there to an all-time low of 33 per cent, down from 40 per cent in April.

With the extra water supply, Singapore now provides 22 million gallons of potable water to Johor daily.

Under the 1962 Water Agreement, PUB may draw up to 250 million gallons of raw water from the Johor River daily. In return, Johor is entitled to receive a daily supply of treated water of up to 2 per cent — or five million gallons a day — of the raw water supplied to Singapore.

At Johor’s request, PUB has supplied about 16 million gallons of potable water per day to the Malaysian state over the years. From Aug 14 last year to Jan 8, the PUB provided an extra five to six million gallons of potable water daily to Johor, under an arrangement similar to the latest one.

The protracted drought has forced Johor to impose water-rationing measures. Since April, this has been happening in the Mersing and Kota Tinggi districts, involving about 85,000 people, Malaysian news agencies reported. 

Last month, Mr Hasni Mohammad, chairman of Johor’s public works, rural and regional development committee, was quoted by agencies as saying that water rationing could be introduced by the end of May in and around Johor Baru and Pasir Gudang, affecting some 800,000 people.