Faulty water mains to blame for water woes in P’pang
Published on: Tuesday, January 18, 2022
By: Sidney Skinner
.jpg "Faulty water mains to blame for water woes in P’pang")
One of the Department’s tankers is seen delivering treated-water to the ground tank for Country Heights.
Damage to a water transmission main along Jalan Panglima Banting was to blame for the irregular supply in parts of Penampang over the past few days.Among those affected by the water woes were those living and working at Country Heights Apartments, Vista Minintod and the surrounding areas.
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A Water Department spokesman said a 400-millimetre pipe near a petrol kiosk sprung a leak at on Thursday.
A notice about the burst was circulated over social media that same afternoon, according to him.
“We initiated emergency repairs on the Mid-Steel-Cement-Lined (MSCL) water main on Friday,” he said on January 17.
He said the agency’s technicians were forced to work through the night to finish attending to the pipe.
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Their efforts were complicated because the leaking distribution main was buried about 11 to 10 metres underground, according to him.
“The supply from our Moyog Treatment Plant and reservoir (RB6) had to be temporarily shut off to allow our staff to excavate down to the pipe, before welding the connection.
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The pressure of the water reaching Country Heights was found to be acceptable, after the pipe had been repaired.
“This work was completed on Saturday, with tap water restored to the affected consumers in stages once sufficient pressure had built up in the supply-line.”
The spokesman apologised, on behalf of the Department, to the public in the area for the inconvenience caused by the disruption.
CHELSEA of Penampang bemoaned the water woes she had been experiencing in her upper-floor apartment at Country Heights.
On Friday, when she turned on her taps at 9pm, she found that she still had a supply.
“However, the strength of the tap water was greatly reduced,” she said.
“By midnight, the supply vanished altogether and still had not returned by 11.30am the next day.”
Prior to this, she said, she usually received tap water for a few hours in the morning and then again at night.
She said the Country Heights management company (MC) had been rationing the supply to the tenants.
“I was made to understand that this is being done because the Department cannot supply enough water to the apartments.”
“This schedule has not been met for the past few days. On Friday and Saturday, I only got a supply at night.”
She said she had phoned the MC and agency multiple times about the intermittent tap water. She said she shared her frustrations with a friend who lives in Vista Minintod nearby.
A trench, which was more than 11m deep, had to be excavated so that the Department’s staff could reach the damaged pipe.
“He too lamented the deteriorating supply at the property. In my friend’s case, only the sound of air could be heard when he turned on his taps.
“He had not received a drop of water since Thursday.”
Chelsea admitted that it was very stressful to live under these circumstances.
“You don’t know when you might get tap water and, when you do, you might not be around – or awake – to store the supply that reaches your apartment.”
She provided Hotline with the time and date of her recent water woes. This information was forwarded to the Department and MC.
The spokesman said a check was made of the distribution mains leading to the property, after the repairs were completed.
“Our staff cleared the airlocks inside the pipes. They also checked on the strength of the water, at the time, found the pressure to be acceptable,” he said.
Nevertheless, he said the Department would keep an eye on the supply in this part of Penampang to ensure that consumers received some water.
A spokesman for the MC said the firm’s staff was swamped with calls from irate apartment dwellers.
“Our personnel repeatedly contacted the Department to find out what was going on,” he said.
“The Careline staff informed us that there was a pipe-burst in this area and that the agency was in the midst of trying to solve these water woes.”
He said the MC had to wrestle with how best to handle this situation after the main pipes entering the compound for the apartments had been dry for more than half a day.
“Before this we had been receiving some water, even though the pressure was not very strong.”
The spokesman said the company had made the agency aware of what was transpiring at the apartments.
He the management had been controlling the flow of water from ground and elevated tanks to those living on the property, according to him.
“We generally stop the supply from these tanks for several hours daily to try and collect the supply that reaches us.
“Nevertheless, on January 14 and 15, we were only able to release the water to our tenants once a day: for a limited time in the evening.”
“If we didn’t do this, then those on the upper floors would have had no chance of getting a supply at all.”
The spokesman said the MC’s staff had also personally requested for the Department to have treated water delivered to the property.
“We received 20,000 litres, when a tanker came to Country Heights on Saturday afternoon.
“This amount was barely enough to replenish our ground tank.
“Thankfully, however, our incoming supply was restored about two hours after the tanker came, so some water could be released to our tenants at night.”
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