9,000 affected by dry taps in Kota Marudu
Published on: Thursday, May 26, 2022
By: Sidney Skinner
The Department’s staff oversee action to replenish the ground tanks inside the compound of this secondary school in the Tandek area.
Damage to a distribution main, which runs through the Kg Simpangan River, was partly to blame for the irregular supply in Kota Marudu over the past week.Among the 9,000 consumers in the district affected by the water woes were those living and working at Taman TNG 3 and some shophouses along Jalan Lontong.
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A Water Department spokesman said a section of the 450millimetre submarine- line sprung a leak last Thursday.
“We initiated emergency repairs on the Mid-Steel-Cement-Lined (MSCL) pipe as soon as the problem came to light but only managed to finish this work last night at around 10pm,” he said on May 25.
He said five of the agency’s technicians took turns to dive down to the riverbed where the distribution main was buried.
“Their efforts were interrupted by the heavy rains which the district experienced for the past few days.
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“The swollen river and strong currents made it impossible for them to reach the pipe safely.”
He said the inclement weather also caused the river water, channelled to the Department’s Bandau Treatment Plant, to become murky.
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“Production had to be halted, from time to time, till the ‘kekeruhan (turbidity)’ of the raw water fell to more acceptable levels.”
The decline in the Plant’s output, coupled with the pipe-damage, led to there being insufficient treated water at the district’s reservoir in the Sagang area, according to him.
The Department’s technicians swim to the location of the damaged section of the submarine pipeline.
He said, under normal circumstances, a total of 25 million litres was produced daily at the Plant.
The reservoir, on the other hand, could hold as much as five million litres of water.
“The low level at the reservoir triggered a water shortage around the town,” he said.
He said notices about the burst and temporary shutdowns of the Plant were circulated over social media by the Department.
During the interim period, the spokesman said, the agency had a supply delivered to at select premises around the town.
“We borrowed one tanker from our Kudat branch and another from our Kota Belud office to make these deliveries at the various schools and clinics here.”
Both vehicles had a capacity of some 8,000 litres, according to him.
He said the agency’s staff would be keeping tabs on the water situation in the district until more permanent repairs could be made on the submarine pipeline.
“We hope to have a more durable job done by the beginning of June. So, for the time being, the supply is being controlled.
“This is to ensure that all our consumers, including those at the end of our distribution line and those with premises on higher ground, receive some tap water.”
CHING of Kota Marudu bemoaned the unreliable supply which he had been receiving at his eatery.
“The taps at my coffeeshop were dry on Thursday. I had to depend on the water I had stored in tank to get by,” he said.
These reserves ran out by Saturday morning, according to him.
Thankfully, he said the supply came back the next day.
“But the pressure of the water was very weak and trickle vanished after two hours.”
He said it would be difficult to cook, let alone clean-up because of these water woes at some shophouses along Jalan Lontong.
“I have lost a substantial amount of business over the past week because I was forced to close early.”
Ching related his troubles to staff at the Department’s office in the district several times during this period.
“The staff who took my calls could tell me that there was something wrong in one part of the town.
“He assured me that his colleagues were trying to resolve this problem as quickly as they could but could not specify when my supply would return to normal.”
Ching shared his frustrations with a friend who lives in the Goshen area.
“My friend admitted that the taps in his house ran dry for a few hours daily but not for days on end as was happening at my shop.”
At one stage, Ching heard that the heavy rains might have caused his water woes.
“I do not understand why this is so. I would have thought that an abundance of water would be a boon for water production, instead of a hindrance.”
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