Putatan water supply woe: Maintenance work to blame
Published on: Wednesday, March 29, 2023
By: Sidney Skinner
A homeowner in another part of Putatan verifies that a supply is reaching her premises.
Maintenance work carried out at a Water Department installation, servicing the Putatan area, was to blame for the supply woes which some consumers in the district have been experiencing since last week.A spokesman for the agency said operations at its Kasigui Treatment Plant ceased for most of March 23 so that its R9 reservoir on Bukit Kuda – off Jalan Ramayah – could be thoroughly sanitised and disinfected.
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“The cleaning was deemed necessary given the substantial amount of algae, fungi and moss which had sprung up on the inside of reservoir,” he said.
“Action was also taken to remove the layers of sediment which had settled at the base.”
A Department technician confirms that water is reaching this Putatan eatery, while the owner looks on.
According to him, about 53 million litres of treated water was produced daily at the Kasigui Plant, under normal circumstances.
“The output was severely impacted while the reservoir was being dealt with.”
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He said notices were issued several times over the past few months, via social media, to inform the public about this maintenance.
“Consumers were forewarned about a possible drop in water pressure at their premises
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“They were advised to take steps to prepare for this likelihood by storing water in advance and using these reserves prudently.”
The areas which experienced the supply irregularities included Kg Ramayah, Kg Duvanson, Kg Terawi, Kg Buit Hill, Kg Bukitas Ulu Putatan, Kg Kandazon, Kg Botong, Kg Dabak, Kg Baru Putatan, Taman Malakkun and Taman Lembah Impian.
Those attending the Agriculture Department Training Centre, as well as those staying along Jalan Ramayah Terawi, also felt the pinch.
The spokesman said the cleaning of R9 was completed on the night of March 23 but the weak pressure in some of the affected areas was still evident as of Monday this week.
Hotline was inundated with calls from irate Putatan consumers about the water woes at their premises.
For more than a week recently, a Taman Bersatu Phase 2 resident found that the pressure of her incoming supply was weak.
She said water trickled from some of the taps on the ground floor of her home, while not a drop was available from any of those on the first floor.
An eatery operator at the Putatan Jaya commercial centre, on the other hand, found it difficult to run his business under similar circumstances
The pair respectively provided Hotline with their address which was forwarded to the Department.
The spokesman said its technicians went to both locations shortly after learning about these goings-on.
“They checked on the condition of the pipes leading to each of these premises and cleared any airlocks which had formed inside,” he said.
“They found that the supply was reaching the meters and that the strength of the supply was acceptable.”
Where the coffeeshop was concerned, he said, the agency’s staff confirmed that the water at the kitchen sink was flowing as it should.
“Our staff are periodically keeping an eye on the situation to ensure that a supply reaches the residential and commercial consumers in these areas.”
Ngiau Chap seller DAWN bemoaned the inconvenience caused by irregular supply.
“The water in the storage tanks for my shop has run dry,” she said, adding that he had been without a supply at the premises the past few days.
“It is difficult to prepare meals, let alone make drinks or wash the plates and cutlery, when the supply is so unreliable.
Housewife RIA spoke out about the water woes in Taman Bersatu.
“I noticed that the pressure of the water coming from the taps in my home had become weak towards the end of last week,” she said.
By Monday, when she contacted Hotline, her supply had been reduced to a trickle and was only available for a few hours after midnight.
Ria said she had to forgo cleaning the house and doing her laundry, as she wanted to conserve the water she had to take a bath and operate the toilets in her house.
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