Johor govt replacing pipes to avoid water cuts

JOHOR BARU: The Johor government is replacing more water pipes to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) and unscheduled water disruptions, says state executive councillor Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh (pic).

The Johor works, transportation, infrastructure and communications committee chairman said through the initiative, which started about three years ago, the state government had been replacing about 200km of pipes annually.

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“The main focus is to reduce NRW, which is currently about 20%, but it could also help to reduce the occurrence of unscheduled water cuts in Johor.

“This is because a majority of unscheduled water cuts in the state are caused by burst pipes or leakages and other technical issues,” he said when contacted.

Asked if there have been instances where water treatment plants (LRA) had to be shut down due to odour pollution, Mohamad Fazli said that it was a rare occurrence.

“There are many reasons for unscheduled water disruptions and odour pollution is just one of them. Our main problem is that we have old pipes that are prone to technical issues.

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“Even if the unscheduled water disruption was a result of odour pollution, it is usually because of construction waste causing the water to turn murky,” he said.

He added that the state government had formed a special committee that focused on water issues and future projects in Johor.“The expansion of data centres in Johor, coupled with other developments such as the Special Economic Zone, has affected our water supply. The task force was formed earlier this year to address the problem, which will not only affect Johoreans, but also our investors,” he said.

Meanwhile, Johor Water Regulatory Body director Azlan Afandi Sauffee Afandi said checks were conducted from time to time to ensure that rivers, including those providing raw water to LRAs, were free of pollution.

“Apart from investigating sources of pollution upon receiving a report, we also conduct checks regularly to monitor the rivers in Johor. While we do face issues with odour pollution, it is rare that it causes unscheduled water disruption as the rivers affected are usually not the source of raw water for our LRAs,” he said.

He said Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang, which was affected by pollution that affected thousands of residents and fishermen five years ago, was not a water source for any LRAs in Johor.