Chan (centre) being briefed by Kota Kinabalu water engineers.
KOTA KINABALU: A task force tackling the city's critical water supply problems says it will return to normalcy in two week, barring any fresh hiccups, says Chan Foong Hin.
The Kota Kinabalu MP said a Water Department task force set up on June 23 was making progress to help improve water supply and expect it to stabilise soon.
"I was informed that the biggest challenge was to overcome drop in water pressure as well as ensure a proper balance of water supply (on high as well as low ground)," he said after a briefing by Sabah Water Department's Kota Kinabalu district engineer Chee Chun Chieh.
He said that action taken by the task force to resolve low water pressure and dry taps had already entered its sixth week and officials were now confident that water supply would improve in the coming weeks.
Chan said water was normally delivered from higher ground to lower ground assisted by gravity and there were several "water reservoirs" throughout Kota Kinabalu where water is stored before it is delivered to consumers.
"The problem faced right now is that there is a lack of pressure to deliver water up to these reservoir towers," he said, adding that tapping water from the main delivery pipe had led to severe loss of pressure, among other factors.
"The loss of pressure is exacerbated by the department selling water at their depot to water tankers," he added.
Chan said that the water department's strategy is to stop this to ensure water pressure balancing throughout the delivery system, including to areas with higher elevation throughout the Kota Kinabalu district.
"By adjusting the balance, a flow rate would be set and consistency can be established throughout the delivery system," Chan said after the briefing.
"Hopefully with this strategy, the department can restore water supply to all consumers in Kota Kinabalu and its greater areas (neighbouring Putatan and Tuaran districts) if there are no other external factors like power disruption to cause pump problems, among others," he added.
