BUTTERWORTH: Penangites in the South-West district of the island will have to brace themselves for another round of water cuts during works carried out to replace a faulty pipe in Sungai Prai.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the cut was estimated to last a day with works stipulated to last 16 hours and it will take place before Feb 2.
"Places that will be affected include Relau, Batu Maung and Balik Pulau among others in the South-West district of the island.
"We appeal to everyone to understand the situation and we plan to execute the final portion of the work to minimise our interruption as quickly as possible.
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"We expect works to take 16 hours and the recovery of water supply to begin soon after.
"People are advised to store water and ensure they have enough for the day once the date is announced," he said during a press conference held at the site of the replacement works in Seberang Prai, on Saturday (Jan 20).
Chow said while the date has not been set, 50% of the work has been completed.
"The remainder of the works to replace the pipe will go on until Feb 2.
"Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) have planned the shortest and least inconvenient scheduled water supply interruption to connect the replacement twin 600mm pipelines at Sungai Prai to replace the leaking 1,350mm underwater pipeline section.
"They (PBAPP) will present its water interruption recommendations to the Penang State Executive Council on Wednesday (Jan 24)," he said.
Chow said as of right now PBAPP is incurring a leak of 154 million litres per day (MLD) from the underwater pipeline.
"With the commissioning of the twin 600mm pipelines that will be placed above the waterline, the current underwater pipeline will be decommissioned.
"Right now the water pressure is lower because of the leak," he said.
Chow said the whole work will cost RM1.6mil.
This new announcement comes on the heels of the state recovering from a scheduled water cut last week.
An estimated 590,000 account holders of PBAPP had been expected to be impacted by the water disruption scheduled from 6am on Jan 10 to 6am on Jan 14.
Fortunately, the works were completed ahead of schedule and the water supply was restored in most places much earlier than anticipated.
