Likas Bay sewage pollution solved
Published on: Thursday, December 01, 2022
By: Sidney Skinner
The Department’s senior officers and the contractor’s personnel conduct a final check on the newly repaired sewer line near Bay 21.
A 76 metre section of the sewer line along Likas Bay has finally been repaired, with the public no longer having to hold their nose when they move along the main road between the Bay 21 Condominiums and Rural Development Corporation’s market grounds.The sharp smell of sewage has been periodically wafting over from the direction of the roadside drain near the former property since the damage to the sewer mains first came to light in 2020.
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The stench has been a source of frustration to the condominiums’ tenants, stall operators at the market, motorists and those who use the cycle-cum-jogging track beside this part of Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens.
A Sewage Services Department spokeswoman said repairs on the collapsed section of the underground pipe, which had a 975 millimetre diameter, were completed earlier this month.
Effluent from this manhole was being emptied into the drain.
This work involved a “cure-in-place pipe (CIPP)” and began in March, according to her. “A jointless pipe-lining is placed within the existing pipe as part of the CIPP or trenchless rehabilitation method,” she explained.
“We elected to go trenchless as we wanted to avoid any excavation on a surface level. “We hoped, as much as possible, to minimise potential traffic disruptions caused by the repairs.”
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The spokeswoman said the affected sewer mains were found to have deteriorated due to wear and tear.
“This part of the pipeline collapsed as a result of its considerable age and the corrosive impact of the effluent inside.
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“The newly repaired section will allow the sewage to be more effectively channelled to our pumping-station on Jalan Mergastua.”
Aside from attending to the pipeline on Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens, the spokeswoman said the Department was due to refurbish the sewer mains on Jalan Teluk Likas and Jalan Tuaran Lama.
The Department’s personnel being briefed on the progress of the work involving the sewer pipes near Bay 21.
She said the pipes in 11 separate sections, covering a total of 955 metres, were being dealt with as part of the Jalan Kota Kinabalu-Kudat Sewage Pipe Repair Project.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Department tentatively hoped to finish the Project by September next year, according to her.
“The upgrading is being implemented with funds from the Ministry of Finance, under the ‘Rancangan Malaysia ke-12 (Twelfth Malaysia Plan)’.”
ELVEY of Likas said she and the other condominium- owners, whose units faced the bay, were forced to keep their windows closed to prevent the stench from the coming indoors.
“We have to put up with the lack of fresh air in our units just to minimise this nuisance,” she said.
“We cannot even spend much time on our balconies to take in the view because the stink drives us back into our condos.”
“I have a strong feeling that the waste water is somehow finding its ways into the drains.”
She said such a practice was not just unhygienic but bound to have a negative impact on the health of those living inside Bay 21.
“I can only wonder how their wellbeing might be affected from having to inhale the fumes from the drain on a regular basis.”
OLGA of Manggatal, on the other hand, expressed her displeasure about the foul smell which permeated her car even though none of the windows were open. She too wondered if excrement was winding up in the roadside drain due to the unpleasant smell which came in through the ventilation vents of her vehicle.
“I work in the City and use this part of Likas Bay almost every day to travel between home and my office,” Olga said.
“The stench usually comes into my car when I pass the area where the ‘KPD’ market is located.”
The spokeswoman said the stench stemmed from the “kumbahan terawat (treated effluent)”, which had to be emptied into the drain, while the Department endeavoured to finish repairing the damaged sewer mains beneath Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens.
She said there was a strong possibility of “the manholes downstream” overflowing if the sewage was not released in this manner.
She explained that these manholes included those around the Sabah International Convention Centre, Jesselton Mall, Suria Sabah and the central banking district in the State Capital.
“This has happened on a few occasions over the past two years”.
Owing to the recurring nuisance created by the stink, at one stage, the Department tried adding microbes to the effluent upstream from Bay 21, according to the spokeswoman.
“When the nuisance came back again, we decided to have canisters with activated carbon placed in the drain near the condominiums.
“The canisters filter the water in the drain, with the activated carbon meant to reduce the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas given off by the effluent among these fluids.
“The activated carbon filters had proven effective in minimising a similar stink in the Asia City area of the City.”
H2S has an uncomfortable odour and is a gas which occurs naturally around sewers, according to her.
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