BY OH ING YEEN AND FARAH FAZANNA

Troublesome: Many residents have to install water pumps in their homes to boost water pressure to upper floors.

RESIDENTS of Saujana Villa in Taman Prima Saujana, Kajang, want their developer and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) to stop the blame game and solve water disruptions in the neighbourhood once and for all soon.

Saujana Villa residents’ association (RA) committee member Nancy Poh said residents want it to be fixed before more people move in to the adjacent neighbourhood.

“The problem will be worsened as they will also be receiving water supply from the same water tank.

“This is supposed to be a prime estate and the developer should care for its own reputation.

“We wanted to resolve things with the developer in private but the issue has yet to be solved despite our complaints,” she said.

Residents of the 198 units in the neighbourhood have been facing frequent water disruptions in their area since 2012.

StarMetro had highlighted the issue two years ago (‘Residents turned off by dry taps’, Oct 17, 2013) but residents say the problem has yet to be solved.

Residents said Syabas claimed that the low water pressure was due to the incorrect design of the main water tank, hence the developer should fix it.

However, residents said the developer had countered that if that was the case, then why had Syabas approved the tank in the first place?

Many residents have had to install water pumps to boost water pressure to upper floors; some even had to install extra water tanks, such as RA member Ragesh Rajendran.

“To fix the problem, the design has to be fixed but that is highly unlikely to happen.

“Another remedy is to fix the water pump that constantly breaks down; or to identify which houses are affected and fix it individually but that does not solve the root of the problem, which is the main water tank,” he said.

Azali Yusop, whose house is on higher ground, said he usually had to wait longer for water supply to resume.

Residents showed StarMetro a letter from the developer which stated, “Your house is situated almost on the highest level of the development. During time of general low water pressure or when Syabas storage tank level is low, your house will be the first to feel the effect. This is common for houses on high ground.”

Poh also said residents from another neighbourhood that shared the same main water tank had also experienced low water pressure.

A Taman Prima Saujana developer Prima Paramount Sdn Bhd representative who only wanted to be identified as Ting refuted claims that the water tank design was incorrect.

“We did it according to the plan and Syabas had approved it,” he said.

He added that he received a complaint from a resident last week saying there was a water disruption.

“Since it was a water issue, I told the resident to check with Syabas. I was informed later that the water supply had resumed in the evening,” he said.

Ting added that some houses on the higher ground will receive water a bit later compared to those on the lower ground even though the water supply has resumed.

Ting also said that perhaps the issue was with the Syabas supply.

Syabas Corporate Affairs executive director Priscilla Alfred said the water disruption issue in Saujana Villa was caused by the Sungai Langat treatment plant operating beyond its design capacity.

The Sungai Langat treatment plant supplies treated water to the Prima Saujana water tank, which goes on to supply Saujana Villa residents.

”With the rapid development in Hulu Langat, the water demand is higher than the capacity of treated water and had caused the water in the treatment plant not to be at its maximum level,” she said.

She added that when there was high water demand, there would be depreciation in water supply for areas around Saujana Villa.

Apart from these areas, Semenyih, Beranang and Kajang Utama are also affected.

Priscilla added that there was an increase in water usage due to aggressive development.

“Our reserve margin is also very low and unable to support these areas. The state and federal governments are aware of the shortage and are discussing how best to resolve this issue,” she said.