Scheme to boost water pressure in Penampang: Water Department
Published on: Fri, Jun 13, 2025
By: Sidney Skinner Text Size: A new valve was put in place. THE Water Department hopes to boost the pressure of the main incoming supply to Country Heights Apartments, in Penampang, once it launches its new Emergency Water Supply Scheme (EWSS) plant in Kasigui at the end of the month. Operations at the facility are tentatively due to get underway from June 22, giving the agency access to between three to five million litres of treated water daily (MLD).
Advertisement This is on top of the 55 MLD which is produced, under normal circumstances, at the existing Kasigui treatment plant. A Department spokesman said the administration was aware that the strength of the supply reaching the bulk meter for the Apartments was not what it should be. 'The pressure is particularly low at night,' he said. 'After 10pm, water from this part of the district is pushed to Putatan.' He said the supply was re-directed back to Country Heights around 5am. The pressure problem at the Apartments was partly aggravated by the hilly terrain on which the residential property was built, according to him. 'When the volume of water at our R6B reservoir, overlooking Donggongon, falls below a certain level, it can affect the strength of the supply channelled to Country Heights. This most recently happened in the second half of May.' The spokesman said the Department was optimistic about the additional resources from the EWSS plant helping it to mitigate the water problems at the residential property. 'We intend to carry out a stabilisation exercise early next month to try and improve the situation at the Apartments.' He was responding to feedback about the intermittent supply which consumers at Country Heights had been experiencing since April. WILLA, who occupies a ground floor unit, said she frequently lost her tapwater in the early morning. 'When the supply comes back in the late afternoon, it has a murky quality,' she said. 'Occasionally, the water will change colour and become completely white.' She hoped the Department would intervene to put an end to these irregularities, for the benefit of the 6,000 occupants staying on the property. Her grievance was forwarded to the agency. The spokesman said its technicians went to the Apartments, shortly after being contacted by the media. They noted that water was reaching the bulk-meter and entering the ground tanks, according to him. 'The pressure of the supply, at the time, was observed to be low,' he said. 'Our personnel checked on the condition of the distribution mains leading to the meter and found that some of the fixtures were faulty. A strainer and valve was subsequently replaced.' He said the strength of the water entering the tanks improved slightly after these changes were made. Given this turn of events, he said, the agency's staff had been asked to check on the water situation at Country Heights from time to time. A spokesman for the Apartments' management company said the property had periodically lost its main incoming supply between 10pm and 6am since April. 'Even when the supply did not disappear, the pressure was very low,' he said. 'It was only about five to 10 per cent of what it should be.' 'Owing to this, there was not enough water in our ground tanks for us to give our tenants a supply the following morning.' He said the firm generally released water for a few hours twice a day – once in the morning and then at night. 'The management has had to control the flow of water from our elevated and ground tanks to our tenants. If the supply is not controlled, then those living on the upper floors would have no chance of getting any water at all.' The spokesman said this task had become exceedingly difficult since April 17, when there had intermittently been 'zero' input to the tanks for Country Heights at night. He said multiple calls had been made to the Department's Careline since then about these water woes. Two letters were also despatched to the agency, according to him, the first on May 13, the second on June 6. 'We are still waiting to receive an official response to our correspondence.' * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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