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Water Department plans to replace ball valve in elevated tanks
Published on: Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Published on: Tue, Jul 16, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
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Water Department plans to replace ball valve in elevated tanks
A screen grab from the CCTV footage shows the trespassers making away with the pipes and equipment from the Department’s installation.
THE Water Department plans to replace a ball valve inside its elevated tanks near Ujana Kingfisher and will step up efforts to check on the condition of the related fixtures to curb any wastage involving that the supply contained within these receptacles.

Water has been raining down pointlessly from the tanks, on and off, for the past three years. This most recently happened in the first week of July.

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A spokesman for the agency said the ball valve was prone to malfunctioning due to the high pressure of the supply entering the tanks.

“An altitude valve was previously used to manage the incoming supply to the receptacles,” he said.  

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“Vandals frequently tampered with this fixture. The altitude valve was also targeted by used metal thieves.  It proved quite a budgetary strain to keep buying new valves as they can be quite expensive.”

(From left) Gee and Philip joined Yong when he visited the property where the elevated tanks were located.

Consequently, he said, the system at the tanks was modified to allow for the cheaper ball valve to be used. 

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FRED of Inanam said Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) President Datuk Yong Teck Lee came to have a look at the elevated tanks last month, after learning about the water which had been needlessly escaping from these receptacles from some Ujana Kingfisher homeowners. 

He was accompanied by Luyang Community Development Leader Gee Tien Siong and former Member of Parliament Datuk Philip Yong Chiew Lip on this occasion. 

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One of the groups apparently contacted an acquaintance at the Department during the visit. 

“My neighbours were told that a thin metal fixture had been damaged in what looked like a failed attempt by thieves to have it removed.   

“They were made to understand that the present system for the tanks might need to be changed in order to effectively stop the water spraying down from time to time.  It was likely to cost the Department about RM20,000 to do this.”

When asked about the potential solution to the wastage, the spokesman said the agency’s administration would take it under careful consideration.

“We will have to determine the feasibility of implementing this suggestion,” he said.

In the case of the “thin metal fixture” which was damaged, the spokesman said it had little bearing on the wastage. He explained that it was part of a “flow meter”.

“We are looking into the possibility of phasing out the elevated tanks and carrying out a by-pass to have water channelled directly from our R13 reservoir to Ujana consumers. The levels at R13 have been very good off late.”

The damage to the ‘thin, metal fixture’ for the flow meter is seen above.

 Fred said trespassers entered the property where the tanks were located two days after the SAPP visit.

 “A homeowner captured the thieves coming out onto the road nearby on his CCTV and called the Police,” he said. 

 “Some officers came down shortly afterwards and found that the bad hats had cut the wiring inside a control panel. The wrongdoers had made away with some pipes, as well as some of the Department’s equipment.”

 The spokesman said the Department had lodged a Police Report about the theft.

“The Police are still trying to identify the thieves,” he said. 

 “In the meantime, we have re-secured the gate to the property and have asked our maintenance contractor’s to trim the overgrown greenery around the installation.”  

 When asked if barbed wire could be put up at the top of the perimeter fence to deter trespassers from climbing over, he said the Department would have to see if it had the budget to do this. 

This is not the first time that thieves have hit the compound for the tanks. This has happened twice before over the past few years.
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