Sabah feeling the dry spell, consumers told to conserve water

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Water Department is sending out an alert to consumers to conserve water as the dry spell begins to kick in, with rains only expected from April.

The department’s director Amarjit Singh said that they would be all right for another two-months as there was sufficient water in the six dams around the state.

“We can cope for the next two months,” he said referring to the dams in Penampang, Sandakan, Semporna, Kudat, Tamparuli and Lahad Datu.

He said eight waters sources from rivers were at critical levels, while nine others were on alert level nine as they were showing signs of drying up.

In  a media statement, Amarjit said water production for the west coast Kota Kinabalu area were also troubled as one of its three intake plants in Papar was shut down due to “saline intrusion since Feb 1” due to seawater seeping into the drying river.

Amarjit said the two other intake plants (in Papar) were also affected and water production had gone down by 10 million litres per day for consumers in Papar.

However, Amarjit said  that there was no need for the public to panic. Nonetheless, he urged them to use water prudently particularly during the current dry spell.

He said measures like water rationing and cloud seeding would be taken in due course if the need arose.

Those who need water to be supplied can call the department’s careline at 088-326888.