Temporary solution: Ranhill SAJ staff delivering water to households affected by the recent unscheduled water cut in Johor Baru. — Photo courtesy of Ranhill SAJ
JOHOR BARU: In May, Fatin Azrin and her family were forced to spend several days in Pontian after the taps in their home here ran dry due to an unscheduled water disruption.
Now, less than six months later, her family is faced with a similar dilemma after being hit by yet another water crisis.
“The water flow has been slow since Friday night, and by Saturday, it was completely dry.
“Thankfully, I had saved up some water. I did not expect a repeat, especially now when I’m seven weeks’ pregnant and still having morning sickness,” the housewife said.
Fatin was among thousands of people affected by an unscheduled water cut caused by raw water pollution that disrupted several treatment plants.
The mother of two children, aged four and seven, said that many of her neighbours are senior citizens who struggle to carry water from elsewhere and are depending on the water supply from Ranhill SAJ.
“However, this should never have happened in the first place, and it has made life very difficult for many people, especially those with young children,” she added.
She said that her son had to attend virtual classes during the last water crisis, as they were forced to temporarily stay with her in-laws in Pontian.
“I’m not sure if we’ll do that again this time, especially since areas in Pontian are also affected,” she said.
“However, if the water continues to run dry here and my in-laws still have water there, we might have to move again.”
Jordan Lim’s house in Tebrau was also affected by the water cut.
“Most places have running water in their taps again since Sunday morning, but that should not mean that everything is okay. There is a need for a long-term solution to address this issue before it happens again,” he said.
It was earlier reported that more than 800,000 people were affected after several water treatment plants halted operations due to pollution in Sungai Johor.
According to Ranhill SAJ, 81% of the disrupted supply had been restored as at 8am yesterday.
It said water supply in Senai, Seelong, and Bukit Indah, as well as parts of Kota Tinggi and Pontian have resumed.
In Kulai, 85% of the supply has been restored, followed by 75% in Kempas and Tebrau, 64% in Skudai, 49% in Gelang Patah, and 40% along the Pontian-Skudai road, it said in a statement.
On Friday, Johor works, transport, infrastructure, and communications committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said checks by various agencies found that water turbidity had spiked to 37,400 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), compared with the normal level of around 400 NTU.
“The incident was caused by land-based sand mining activities carried out by a local company when its sixth sand washing pond burst due to soil movement.
“As an immediate measure, water release from the Linggiu Dam has been increased to dilute the contamination in the Johor River,” he said.
Mohamad Fazli said the incident affected operations at several water treatment plants, including Linggiu, Semangar, Sungai Johor, and PUB (Singapore), potentially disrupting supply in parts of Kota Tinggi, Johor Baru, Pontian, and Kulai.
“The affected areas include parts of Senai, Skudai, Seelong, Felda Linggiu, Petri Jaya, and Lima Kedai,” he added.
In May, about 155,000 account holders in Johor Baru and Iskandar Puteri were affected by an unscheduled water disruption for three days after six raw water pumps at the Sungai Johor water treatment plant were damaged when they were submerged during heavy rain.
