Water will flow freely from taps in the Klang Valley from tomorrow onwards as the two-month long water rationing ends tonight. — file picture

KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — Water will flow freely from taps in the Klang Valley from tomorrow onwards as the two-month long water rationing ends tonight.

The announcement was made by the National Water Management Commission (SPAN) chairman Datuk Ismail Kasim in Perlis today, news portal Malaysiakini reported.

A severe water shortage, caused by an unusual dry spell had disrupted water supply to some 2.2 million consumers in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya since end February.

The Sungai Selangor Dam, which is the main source of water supply in the country’s most developed state, had plunged below the 40 per cent critical level over the past weeks.

“Even if the levels at the Sungai Selangor dam have yet to reach 50 per cent, the government is ready to rescind the scheduled water rationing based on its contingency plan and the availability of raw water in the river after several days of rain,” SPAN chief executive Datuk Teo Yen Hua said in a statement.

Ismail said the water supply in the Sungai Selangor dam is currently above the critical level at 40.23 per cent, compared to 36.39 per cent just yesterday.

He said the recent rainy spell had allowed major water treatment plants to extract more water from the dam.

“After taking into account efforts taken by the Selangor government to improve its raw water sources, Span agreed to lift the stage 1,3 and 4 water rationing in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur effective May 1,” he was quoted as saying in a separate report by New Straits Times.

Hints that such an announcement was forthcoming set social media was abuzz.

Khalid had foreshadowed today’s news, saying Friday that Selangor may stop water rationing if the reserves at Sungai Selangor continue increasing.

Selangor, which currently supplies water to Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, enforced water rationing over the past two months after water levels at the Sungai Selangor dam reached dangerously low levels due to a prolonged drought.