Penang infrastructure and transport committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said, without sufficient rainfall in the water catchment area, the dam’s reserves could be expected to dry up by June.

Zairil said the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) had taken measures to limit the output of water supply from the Air Itam dam to consumers.

“If this measure is not taken, it’s possible for the water at the dam to dry up within 10 days. With this measure, it will last for another 40 days,” he said.

He added that some premises in the Air Itam area will be given water supply from the Sungai Dua water treatment plant.

He said the drop in the dam’s water capacity was due to the low rainfall in the catchment area and high water usage, especially by the markets and food courts nearby.

“Our concern is that if consumers do not start saving water now, they will face a critical supply issue,” he said, according to Utusan Malaysia.

Zairil said the Teluk Bahang dam had also seen a drop in its capacity and its water reserves were estimated to last for another 146 days if there is no rain.

“Cloud-seeding operations have already been conducted in these water catchment areas, but it must be done continuously to ensure optimum rainfall to fill up the dams,” he added.

As of May 7, the Air Itam dam recorded a capacity of 41.5% and the Teluk Bahang dam 48.4%. The maximum capacity for the Air Itam dam is 2,160 million litres (ML), and 9,240 ML for the Teluk Bahang dam.