GEORGE TOWN, Oct 8 — The Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) has restored water supply to 99 per cent of the 118,000 users affected by the scheduled water supply disruption in Seberang Perai Tengah (SPT) and Seberang Perai Selatan (SPS) since last Friday as of 11.45 am today.

PBAPP chief executive officer Datuk K. Pathmanathan said that only three higher ground and end-of-line (EoL) areas in SPS, namely Persiaran Jawi Golf Resort, Jalan Sungai Duri and Taman Widuri were still experiencing supply disruptions due to extremely high water consumption in SPT and SPS since Oct 6.

"The majority of water tanks and reservoirs in the areas affected by the recent scheduled water supply disruptions have run dry. As a result, over the past 48 hours, the majority of water consumers in the affected areas have been consuming large volumes of water for immediate use and restorage.

"Based on data from the Penang Water Supply Command Centre, PBAPP has been pumping between 160 and 180 million litres of water per day (MLD) from the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in Seberang Perai Utara (SPU) for supply to consumers in SPT and SPS since Oct 6,” he said in a statement today.

Pathmanathan said that since the completion of pipeline repairs at Jalan Pengkalan Tambang, the Seberang Perai Polytechnic in Permatang Pauh and Jalan Kubang Semang on Sunday, PBAPP has been producing an optimal volume of 1,047 MLD at the Sungai Dua WTP.

He said that PBAPP would continue to implement on-the-ground actions to achieve 100 per cent supply recovery today.

The actions include pipeline de-airing works at locations affecting water supply to the last three areas and neighbourhood-level troubleshooting to identify and resolve any other potential causes of water supply issues.

Pathmanathan added that PBAPP would produce and pump as much water as possible from the Bukit Panchor WTP in SPS to complement treated water supply in the district.

About 118,000 user accounts in over 40 areas in SPT and SPS experienced scheduled water supply disruptions for 24 hours from 10 pm on Oct 4 to 10 pm on Oct 5, but restoration of the supply was rescheduled due to an unforeseen incident on the pipe repair work at Jalan Pengkalan Tambang, SPU.

The scheduled water supply disruptions are to enable the PBAPP to repair a pipe leak that affected water supply services in SPT and SPS, with the connection and replacement of a new 180-m-long pipeline, costing RM2 million, near the Seberang Perai Polytechnic campus in Permatang Pauh. — Bernama