Water cuts began earlier, some residents complain

Help is on the way: Water tankers are seen queueing up near Taman Gemilang in Dengkil as they await their turn to be filled up with water. — Bernama

PETALING JAYA: Some residents in the Klang Valley claimed that the scheduled water disruption, which was supposed to start yesterday morning, arrived a day earlier than slated.

As such, they said the low water pressure that kicked in several hours before the scheduled time yesterday made it difficult for them to store sufficient water in preparation for the scheduled four-day service disruption that is supposed to end by 9pm on Saturday.

Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) announced on Oct 1 that the Sungai Selangor Phase 1 Water Treatment Plant (SSP1 WTP) will undergo upgrading and maintenance of critical assets.

Due to the works, supply is disrupted in 998 areas in the Petaling, Klang / Shah Alam, Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Hulu Selangor, Kuala Langat and Kuala Selangor regions from 9am yesterday, with all those potentially affected advised to store water.

However, some Bandar Utama residents lamented that their taps had either run dry or had low pressure almost 12 hours before the commencement of the disruption.

Bandar Utama resident Victor Cheong, 50, said the water pressure was low late Tuesday evening.

He added that the taps completely ran dry by 9.30pm that night.

“I was hoping to store water last night as my family had been busy with work.

“Unfortunately, we could not do so and are now dependent on the water that is left in the home water tank only,” he said.

Cheong added that the residents’ association had reached out to the MP on the matter, and were told that the low pressure was due to households stocking up.

Kuala Selangor resident Marwati Hasyim, 33, said she too faced a similar plight, with water running out by 8pm.

“We managed to store some water for the bathroom, but we wanted to wait until the night before to store some for drinking purposes so it would be fresh.

“We had to rush to the shop to buy drinking water, and luckily, there were a still a few bottles available,” she said.

Bandar Puteri Klang resident Nazrin Navin also said there was no water by 11pm.

“My question is, why did the taps run dry?

“If there is a schedule, it should be followed,” he said.

Meanwhile, a resident from Taman Desa Jaya in Kepong, who only wanted to be known as Segar, said that water pressure in his house had dropped as of yesterday noon, despite his residential neighborhood not being listed as one of the affected areas.

“My neighbourhood is next to Taman Ehsan, and that neighbourhood was in the list of affected areas.

“In the past, whenever there were water cuts in Taman Ehsan, my area was also affected,” he said.

Air Selangor has yet to respond to the claims at press time,

However, in a statement, it confirmed that the scheduled works started at 9am yesterday, as planned.

Work should have been completed by 11pm yesterday, and water would be reconnected in phases from 5pm today after the water supply system has stabilised.

It also explained that the actual disruption period will vary from area to area.

The full list of affected areas, as well as locations of the 22 public taps and four commercial filling stations, can be found at hentitugas.airselangor.com.

Updates on the water supply are available on the Air Selangor app, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Alternatively, customers can also call 5300. Enquiries and feedback can be submitted via www.airselangor.com and the Air Selangor app.