Department keeping tabs on reservoir in Inanam
Published on: Tuesday, January 16, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
The Department’s staff clearing the airlocks in this section of Lorong Ujana 11.
THE Water Department is keeping tabs on its reservoir in one part of Inanam as the declining levels at this installation led to the supply woes in Ujana Kingfisher recently.
A spokesman for the agency said the water pressure at some homes in the neighbourhood was weak, while not a drop was available at others due to the situation at its R13 reservoir.
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“We had to perform water-balancing and pressure-calibration exercises over a few days in order to stabilise the supply to the housing areas,” he said.
He was responding to the outcry from two Ujana Kingfisher consumers who had been without a supply for several days.
The pressure of the water in front of this house on Lorong Ujana 13 was found to be acceptable.
Each of these homeowners had contacted the Department about the dry taps in their premises. They were displeased that its Careline staff who could not tell them when they would roughly regain their tap water.
The spokesman said the agency’s personnel, subsequently, went around Ujana Kingfisher to release any airlocks which had formed in the distribution pipes leading to the individual meters there.
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“They confirmed that water was reaching the meter-owners, in these instances, and that the pressure of the supply was strong.
“A check was also made of our pump-house for the neighbourhood. Our staff confirmed that the duty pump was activated and that the ground tanks inside the compound were full.”
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The agency had called on its staff to be more mindful of any irregularities at R13 to minimise the likelihood of its consumers being similarly inconvenienced in future, according to him.
The spokesman said it hoped to keep the equipment at its Ujana Kingfisher pump-house functioning as it should by boosting the levels at the reservoir.
“A sensor switches the water-pump off, when the levels are low, and switches it on, when the level next reach the required height.”
He said, from time to time, the pump had to be manually reactivated, after an electricity disruption.
“Our pump operators have been asked to be more wary of any blackouts and to be more prompt in switching on the device after the power is restored.”
There were two pumps housed at the installation: one for daily use, while the other was on stand-by, according to him.
A supply was found to be reaching the ground tanks at the pump-house for the neighbourhood and these receptacles were full.
The spokesman said maintenance was carried out on the pumps once every two or three months, according to a fixed schedule.
“This work involves ensuring that the control panel, including the automatic sensor, functions normally.
“The pumps’ components are greased as and when this becomes necessary.”
He said the Department’s technicians had been asked to step up their inspections of these devices to ensure that they did not break down.
“This is done daily in select areas from Ujana Kingfisher all the way to the KKIP which have been identified as ‘trouble spots’.”
In light of the recurring water woes at the former, he said the agency was considering having the supply for the neighbourhood channelled through an alternative reservoir.
“We are presently building a new reservoir along the section of Jalan Sulaman, near Kg Sabagon, and may have the distribution mains for Ujana Kingfisher shifted away from R13 to the new reservoir.
“Hopefully this will go some ways to preventing taps in the neighbourhood from running dry every now and again.”
He said the Department was still deliberating over whether to move forward with this plan.
Meanwhile, it intends to repair an existing fixture at the elevated tanks in one part of the neighbourhood, and have a new one put in place, to ensure that these receptacles do not overflow.
The spokesman said a faulty “altitude valve” had been periodically causing water to rain down from the platform on which the tanks were situated.
“We have ordered the replacement and are waiting for it to arrive,” he said.
“A check valve will be installed when these repairs are carried out.”
The agency tentatively hoped to implement this work with the “next two weeks”, according to him.
The Department’s action was prompted by a report about the supply which had been spilling from these receptacles, on and off, over the past few months.
The resident, who brought this to Hotline’s attention, said the wastage was especially disheartening, given the erratic supply in Ujana Kingfisher.
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