THE stench of sewage outside a factory at the Hicom Industrial Estate in Shah Alam is upsetting its employees.
During a visit, StarMetro noticed that the stench emanated from a leaky underground pipe directly outside the premises at Jalan Serendah 26/17.
A senior employee from the factory who did not want to be named said they discovered the leak on March 29.
A check by Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) found blockage at the manhole down the road, he said, adding that even after IWK cleaned the manhole, the problem persisted.
Workers at the factory first detected a leak from the sewer in late March.
In a statement to StarMetro, IWK said the leak originated from a private sewer line which was the responsibility of its owner.
“Upon receiving the owner’s complaint regarding a leak, IWK, which inspected the main sewer line, said it was functioning normally.
“However, the team suspected that the leak might be due to damage in the factory’s private sewer line, which is connected to the main public sewer line,” the statement said.
Additional examinations were conducted by IWK and findings showed damage to the private sewer line could have been caused by third-party horizontal directional drilling (HDD) work.
HDD work is usually conducted underground by utility companies.
In May this year, the HDD contractor and owner of the private sewer line met to address the issue.
The IWK statement added that a site visit was also carried out on June 20, involving the HDD contractor, a representative from IWK and the owner.
“It was decided that the HDD contractor would conduct comprehensive scanning of the private sewer line to conclusively determine if their works had caused the damage.
“IWK would like to remind owners that the care and maintenance of private sewer lines are their responsibility, while IWK oversees the management and maintenance of public sewer lines.”
When contacted, a factory employee said: “The HDD contractor emailed us to say they will do a trial hole. If the leak was caused by their HDD process, they said they will bear the repair costs.”
