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THE Water Department will step up efforts to check on the condition of its distribution line around Telipok to ensure that consumers are not unduly inconvenienced by pipe-bursts.

This action follows feedback from an apartment-owner about the dry taps in Telipok Square. 

The consumer furnished Hotline with the pertinent details, regarding this irregularity, which were forwarded to the agency.

A Department spokesman said its staff went to the residential property, shortly before being contacted by the media.

“They found that mid-steel-cement-lined (MSCL) pipe near a commercial centre, off Jalan Tuaran- Kota Belud, had burst,” he said. 

“We suspect that a third party may have accidentally dug into the structure but, so far, we have been unable to identify the culprit.”

He said the supply to this part of Telipok was temporarily shut off at around 12.30pm that day to accommodate the emergency work involving the damaged pipe.

“A notice was circulated over social media half an hour earlier to forewarn the affected consumers that they may experience supply disruptions. They were advised to use the reserves in their water tank sparingly.”

Besides Telipok Square, the other areas which were impacted by the leak included the Metro Giling commercial centre, Kg Giling Laut and Kg Giling Tengah.

The spokesman said the agency’s technicians were forced to work late into the night to finish attending to the pipe which had a diameter of about 300millimetres. 

Their efforts were complicated because the leaking distribution main was buried about 11 to 10 metres beneath a drain reserve and some reclaimed land, according to him, adding that an excavator was deployed to assist the repair efforts

He said it took almost six hours to complete this task, before the supply could be restored.

“The affected consumers regained their tap water in stages, once sufficient pressure had built up in the pipes,” he said.

He said an inspection was made of Telipok Square a few days after the Department learned about the apartment-owner’s grievance.

“Our technicians carried out flushing to clear any airlocks which had formed in the distribution pipes leading to the property.

“They later confirmed that water was reaching the bulk-meter for the apartments. The pressure of the supply, at the time, was deemed to be strong.”

On top of the leaking MSCL pipe, the spokesman said consumers at Telipok Square had also been affected by the temporary reduction in production from the Department’s Telibong 1 Treatment Plant.

“Operations at the facility were intermittently halted for four days due the high levels of ammonia in the river water,” he said. 

The other areas around the town which felt the pinch because of the reduction included Kg Giling Tengah, Kg Giling Laut, Metro Giling, Taman Telipok Ria and Taman Telipok Jaya, as well as those located Jalan Lama Telipok.

About 80 million litres of water is produced daily at Telibong 1 under normal circumstances.

“Normal production resumed at the Plant on the fifth day. It generally takes between 48 to 72 hours afterwards for tap-water to stabilise in some cases.

“Consumers living and working closer to the pipe may not have to wait so long.  

“However, those whose homes and shops are located on higher ground, or towards the end of our supply-line, may only regain their supply after the third day.”

Where Telipok Square was concerned, the spokesman said apartment-owners did not have the chance to recover properly in this instance.

“Two days after the output from Telibong 1 returned to normal, the property was hit by the fallout from the burst 300mm distribution main.”