THE temporary shutdown of the Kasigui Treatment Plant over the weekend is partially to blame for the water woes in parts of Kepayan and Likas.
In view of this, the Water Department will be monitoring the situation at Kg Suok-Batu and Taman Likas Jaya, to ensure that supply at both locations improves.
A spokesman for the agency said the output from the Plant fell by almost 50 per cent so that repairs could be carried out on two treated water pumps.
Under normal circumstances, a total of 55 million litres of treated water was produced daily at the Plant, according to him.
“Both pumps were found to be malfunctioning,” he said. “The power supply for these devices was found to be tripping.”
The Department issued a notice on Sunday at around 1pm, which was circulated over social media, to alert the public from Lok Kawi to Inanam to prepare for potential disruptions arising from the emergency work at Kasigui.
Among consumers impacted by the reduction were those in Inanam, Kolombong, Tanjung Lipat, Likas, the KK City Centre, Signal Hill, Karamunsing, Luyang, Bukit Padang, Kepayan, Penampang, Kobusak, Sembulan, Tanjung Aru, Petagas, Putatan and Lok Kawi.
Homeowners and office-workers at Kg Ketiau, the Kota Kinabalu International Airport Terminal 1, the Kadazan Dusun Cultural Association building, Country Heights Apartments and Beverly Hills Apartments also felt the pinch.
On top of this, residential and commercial properties along Jalan Penampang Baru, Jalan Penampang-Papar Lama, Jalan Papar Baru, Jalan Pintas Donggongon, Jalan Datuk Panglima Banting and Jalan Bundusan were not spared from the supply woes.
The spokesman said it took about one and a half-hours to complete the repairs, with the affected regaining their supply in stages from Sunday night, once sufficient pressure had built up in the distribution-line servicing their respective areas.
“It generally takes between two to three days for tapwater to stabilise in some cases. Consumers living and working closer to the pipe may not have to wait so long.
“However, those whose homes and shops are located on higher ground, or towards the end of our supply-line, may only regain their supply after the third day.”
FRANKLYN of Kepayan claimed that the taps in his home in Kg Suok-Batu ran dry for more than three days recently.
“My supply has been erratic and unpredictable for months,” he said. “It might come for a few hours, then disappear for days or sometimes up to two weeks.
“There is no schedule as to when water will next be available and no notices or explanations have been provided by the Department as to why the supply has vanished.”
He said he and his neighbours were “just left to guess and scramble”.
JEETRA of Likas, on the other hand, bemoaned the poor strength of the supply which was available in the kitchen and bathrooms in her house on Lorong Kenari 2.
“The water trickling from the taps often resembles a thin ribbon if not random droplets,” she said, adding that this had been happening on and off “for months”.
Both consumers furnished Hotline with the pertinent details, including their address, which were forwarded to the Department.
The spokesman said its personnel went to Kg Suok-Batu and Taman Likas Jaya shortly after being contacted by the media.
“They checked our data-loggers in Kepayan to determine what might be causing the problems in the village,” he said.
“Based on the readings, we suspect that one of our mains might be leaking and are trying to identify which of the pipes leading to Kg Suok-Batu could be damaged.”
In the case of Taman Likas Jaya, the spokesman said, the agency’s technicians had the distribution mains leading to the second neighbourhood flushed.
“They also checked on the pressure of the water to random houses here which, at the time, was found to be acceptable.”
