KLANG: More than a thousand bottles of drinking water have been ferried to Pulau Ketam and nearby Sungai Lima as residents there endure almost two weeks of dry taps caused by a ruptured undersea pipe.
Bagan Pulau Ketam village chief Wang Kheng Hwa said water pressure began dropping about 10 days ago, with only the main jetty area and the stretch along the main street still able to draw some water.
“By then, homes and shops towards the tail end of the village and across the channel were already facing a complete cut in supply,” he said when contacted.
Wang said the authorities were initially unsure what had caused the low pressure and had sent teams to inspect and repair pipes on the island, but the situation did not improve.
“Further checks by Air Selangor on the undersea transmission line later found that the main pipe had ruptured in the mangrove area.
“As a result, a large volume of treated water could not reach Pulau Ketam and Sungai Lima,” he explained.
He added that premises along the main jetty and main street can still pump up some water if they have booster pumps installed, but households at the far end of the village and across the channel have no water.
“Daily life has been badly affected. Some restaurants, worried they will not have enough water, have temporarily closed,” he said, adding that homestay operators without storage tanks are also unable to provide water for guests.
Wang said Air Selangor has been sending emergency bottled water since being informed of the situation.
“For the past four days, the company has been using boats to send treated water to the island.
“More than a thousand five‑litre bottles of filtered drinking water have been delivered to residents,” he said.
The bottled water has helped to ease immediate needs for drinking and cooking, but Wang warned that a prolonged outage would further disrupt daily life.
“Some older homes still have storage tanks and can cope for a few more days, but many newer houses do not have such facilities and are facing a serious water shortage,” he said.
He said the village committee is monitoring repair works closely and is in daily contact with the relevant agencies.
According to Wang, authorities expect the undersea pipe repairs to be completed by tomorrow.
