Water Department keeping tabs on Manggatal and Tuaran supply
Published on: Thursday, June 27, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
The Department’s technicians put their backs into repairing the damaged 100mm UPVC pipe near Jalan Sekoli.
THE Water Department is keeping tabs on the supply to a Manggatal commercial centre and the apartments nearby, as well as a Tuaran village.
The agency hopes in this way to mitigate the irregularities which consumers in these respective areas have been experiencing.
ADVERTISEMENT
This action was prompted by feedback about the low pressure and poor quality of the tap water at University Plaza (UP) and University Apartments 1 (UA1).
A proprietor at the former said he had been unable to run his business as no water had been reaching his first floor shop since June 18, while an eatery operator and apartment owner wondered if the supply coming into their units had actually been purified as it was ‘brown and dirty’.
A resident of Kg Rugading, on the other hand, said the taps in the village ran dry for several days earlier this week.
Their grievances were forwarded to the agency.
The pressure of the water reaching the bulk-meter behind University Plaza was found to be acceptable.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Department spokesman said the fluctuating water levels at its K1 reservoir, which overlooked the University Utama Condominiums in Telipok, was to blame for the supply woes at the Manggatal properties.
He said this had given rise to the weak water pressure at UP and UA1.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We have been trying to raise the levels by closing the valve for the outgoing supply from the reservoir for a few hours each time,” he said.
Where the water quality was concerned, he said the supply line, servicing the shops and apartments, had been flushed last week.
“This was done to minimise the presence of sediment in the supply to UP and UA1. He said the agency’s staff checked on the condition of the incoming supply to both properties on Wednesday, after being contacted by the media.
“They confirmed that water was reaching the bulk-meter behind the shops and entering the ground tanks for the apartments.
“At the time, the pressure of the supply was deemed to be acceptable.
He said its technicians observed, in this instance, that the supply was “not cloudy”.
Nevertheless, in light of the recent feedback from unit-owners, he said, the Department’s staff had been asked to make periodic inspections of the distribution line leading to the shops and apartments.
“Should clarity of the water deteriorate, we will consider having the mains flushed again.”
The authority has also called on its staff to be more proactive when it comes to checking on the condition of its supply line around Tuaran to ensure that consumers around the town are not unduly inconvenienced by any unwanted pipe bursts.
Apartment owners at UA1 have been concerned by the murky water coming from their taps.
This move was taken after damage to a section of the water mains servicing Kg Rugading disrupted the tap water to consumers there earlier this week, according to another spokesman.
“We received reports that the supply in several homes in the village had been reduced to a trickle late on Friday,” he said.
“Over the next two days, many of these consumers found that not a drop was available.”
He said the agency’s technicians suspected that a burst might be to blame for this turn of events.
They noticed water spraying up out of the fixtures, hidden behind some overgrown grass on a road reserve, on Monday and immediately set about trying to find the leaking mains, according to him.
“Our staff subsequently found that a section of the 100 millimetre UPVC [unplasticised polyvinyl chloride] pipe had given way.
“This was most likely the result of wear and tear on the pipe as it had been put in place below the road shoulder years ago.”
He said the agency’s technicians began replacing the affected section around 10am.
“The supply was restored to consumers in stages later that night, once the repairs had been completed and sufficient pressure had built up in the pipes before their meters.”
The spokesman said the public was informed about the potential supply disruption, with the Department sending out a notice over social media an hour before the repairs began on Monday.
Besides rural folk in Kg Rugading, those living and working along the access roads to Kg Sekoli and KKIP Timur were also impacted by the water woes.
Consumers in residential areas were not spared either. These included those living at E Residences and the KKIP Bukit Payung resettlement scheme.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
.jpg)
.jpg)
