Water Department monitors Sandakan, Penampang amid supply woes
Published on: Thu, Jul 17, 2025
By: Sidney Skinner Text Size: A Department technician checks on the pressure of the supply reaching the DMZ meter in this part of Sandakan. The Water Department is keeping tabs on a Sandakan neighbourhood and a Penampang village to mitigate the problems caused by the low pressure of the incoming supply in these areas. A Taman Melrose homeowner and Kg Novunsu resident contacted Hotline separately about the difficulties they faced in receiving tap water since the first week of July.
Advertisement The former bemoaned the intermittent supply which he had been receiving, saying that water either trickled into his premises or vanished altogether for days on end. The Penampang consumer, on the other hand, couldn't understand why the Department refused to have its tanker deliver water to his village, after he and his neighbours lost their supply for close to a week. Their grievances were forwarded to the agency. A Department spokesman said an inspection was made of Taman Melrose shortly after it was being contacted by the media. 'Our personnel discovered a leaking water main buried beneath a pavement at Block B of the Bandar Melrose commercial centre,' he said. He said repairs on the 150milimetre the Mid-Steel-Cement-Lined (MSCL) pipe were carried out on the spot. 'Our technicians later checked on the pressure of the water reaching the meters of random homes, which, at the time, was found to be normal.' A similar pressure check was made of the DMZ meter for this part of Sandakan, according to him. In the context of water management, we have a meter installed within a District Metered Zone (DMZ),' he explained. 'These zones are created to help us monitor and manage water distribution, specifically by isolating sections of the network to pinpoint leaks 'The DMZ meter measures the flow of water into the zone, showing the relevant data which allows our technicians to identify potential leaks.' On top of the irregularities involving potential leaks, the spokesman said a recent drop in the output from the Bukit Garam Water Treatment Plant week also took a toll on the water situation in the housing area. He said production fell for a few hours earlier this week due to the low levels of the river water channelled to the Plant. 'This was triggered by the dry weather in this part of the State. We also had to reckon with seawater finding its way into the intake point for the facility and elevating the salinity of the raw water.' Under normal circumstances, between 57 and 60 million litres of treated water were produced daily at the Plant, according to the spokesman. The Department issued a notice on Monday at 8am, which was circulated over social media, to alert consumers in parts of Sandakan and the Kinabatangan area to prepare for potential disruptions which might arise because of the emergency shutdown. Besides Taman Melrose, the other residential properties at the former location, which were impacted by the reduction, included Taman Sentosa, Taman Chrysanthemum, Taman Tsung Ngen and Taman Mawan. Sandakan rural communities in Kg Segaliud, Kg Garinono, Kg Ulu Dusun, Kg Kitagas, Kg Lung Pagung, Kg Sg Kapor, Kg Sg Tiram, Kg Pyon, Kg Jawa 1, Kg Jawa 2, Kg Sin Kan Kee, Kg Rosalinda, Kg Desa Indah, Kg Sg Api, Kg Air, Kg Bokara and Kg Gelam also felt the pinch. 'Regular operations resumed at Bukit Garam a few hours after the notice was circulated to the public.' Nevertheless in light of what had been transpiring in Taman Melrose, he said the Department's technicians had been asked to make periodic checks on the supply to the neighbourhood. A separate team of the agency's personnel would be doing the same when it came to Kg Novunsu in Penampang, according to another spokesman. When asked the consumer's claim about the Department's refusal to deploy a tanker to the village, he declined to comment. He explained that the problems in this part of the district stemmed from the 'burgeoning demand' for tap water around the State Capital. 'Kota Kinabalu is water stressed,' he said. 'The output from our Moyog and Kasigui Treatment Plants can barely keep up with the needs of our growing consumer-base in Kota Kinabalu. 'Moyog produces about 185 million litres of water daily (MLD) while Kasigui produces 53 MLD. He said the Department's KK branch had entered into discussions with its State headquarters on how best to deal with this situation. 'Until we can find a breakthrough to this shortage, our staff will be keeping an eye on Kg Novunsu, from time to time, to ensure that the water woes do not get out of hand.' * 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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Water Department monitors Sandakan, Penampang amid supply woes
Published on: Thursday, July 17, 2025 Published on: Thu, Jul 17, 2025 By: Sidney Skinner Text Size: A Department technician checks on the pressure of the supply reaching the DMZ meter in this part of Sandakan. The Water Department is keeping tabs on a Sandakan neighbourhood and a Penampang village to mitigate the problems caused by the low pressure of the incoming supply in these areas. A Taman Melrose homeowner and Kg Novunsu resident contacted Hotline separately about the difficulties they faced in receiving tap water since the first week of July. Advertisement The former bemoaned the intermittent supply which he had been receiving, saying that water either trickled into his premises or vanished altogether for days on end. The Penampang consumer, on the other hand, couldn't understand why the Department refused to have its tanker deliver water to his village, after he and his neighbours lost their supply for close to a week. Their grievances were forwarded to the agency. A Department spokesman said an inspection was made of Taman Melrose shortly after it was being contacted by the media. 'Our personnel discovered a leaking water main buried beneath a pavement at Block B of the Bandar Melrose commercial centre,' he said. He said repairs on the 150milimetre the Mid-Steel-Cement-Lined (MSCL) pipe were carried out on the spot. 'Our technicians later checked on the pressure of the water reaching the meters of random homes, which, at the time, was found to be normal.' A similar pressure check was made of the DMZ meter for this part of Sandakan, according to him. In the context of water management, we have a meter installed within a District Metered Zone (DMZ),' he explained. 'These zones are created to help us monitor and manage water distribution, specifically by isolating sections of the network to pinpoint leaks 'The DMZ meter measures the flow of water into the zone, showing the relevant data which allows our technicians to identify potential leaks.' On top of the irregularities involving potential leaks, the spokesman said a recent drop in the output from the Bukit Garam Water Treatment Plant week also took a toll on the water situation in the housing area. He said production fell for a few hours earlier this week due to the low levels of the river water channelled to the Plant. 'This was triggered by the dry weather in this part of the State. We also had to reckon with seawater finding its way into the intake point for the facility and elevating the salinity of the raw water.' Under normal circumstances, between 57 and 60 million litres of treated water were produced daily at the Plant, according to the spokesman. The Department issued a notice on Monday at 8am, which was circulated over social media, to alert consumers in parts of Sandakan and the Kinabatangan area to prepare for potential disruptions which might arise because of the emergency shutdown. Besides Taman Melrose, the other residential properties at the former location, which were impacted by the reduction, included Taman Sentosa, Taman Chrysanthemum, Taman Tsung Ngen and Taman Mawan. Sandakan rural communities in Kg Segaliud, Kg Garinono, Kg Ulu Dusun, Kg Kitagas, Kg Lung Pagung, Kg Sg Kapor, Kg Sg Tiram, Kg Pyon, Kg Jawa 1, Kg Jawa 2, Kg Sin Kan Kee, Kg Rosalinda, Kg Desa Indah, Kg Sg Api, Kg Air, Kg Bokara and Kg Gelam also felt the pinch. 'Regular operations resumed at Bukit Garam a few hours after the notice was circulated to the public.' Nevertheless in light of what had been transpiring in Taman Melrose, he said the Department's technicians had been asked to make periodic checks on the supply to the neighbourhood. A separate team of the agency's personnel would be doing the same when it came to Kg Novunsu in Penampang, according to another spokesman. When asked the consumer's claim about the Department's refusal to deploy a tanker to the village, he declined to comment. He explained that the problems in this part of the district stemmed from the 'burgeoning demand' for tap water around the State Capital. 'Kota Kinabalu is water stressed,' he said. 'The output from our Moyog and Kasigui Treatment Plants can barely keep up with the needs of our growing consumer-base in Kota Kinabalu. 'Moyog produces about 185 million litres of water daily (MLD) while Kasigui produces 53 MLD. He said the Department's KK branch had entered into discussions with its State headquarters on how best to deal with this situation. 'Until we can find a breakthrough to this shortage, our staff will be keeping an eye on Kg Novunsu, from time to time, to ensure that the water woes do not get out of hand.' * 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. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
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