PETALING JAYA, July 1 ― Water disruptions along with low water pressure continue to plague residents in the Klang Valley and the situation seems to be made worse by Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor’s (Syabas) inability to give clear answers to consumers on when these problems will be resolved.

Rohaizam Roosley, from USJ 15, said the issue of low water pressure has been going on for months and started since the construction of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT). He described the situation as “irregular”.

“Things are so chaotic at home. Water pressure is very low particularly during the day, and by night it is not as bad,” said the 39-year-old assistant chief sub-editor.

“Sometimes pressure is so low, it takes a whole day to fill up a 1.5-litre bottle with water.”

Jack Tan, from Bandar Puteri, Klang, accused Syabas of “washing their hands” off their responsibilities and conveniently cutting water off whenever they want. The 28-year-old operations manager said Syabas also seems powerless to act when he calls to complaint.

“(The operator said) sorry, we cannot do anything about this matter. There are too many calls, and we will get back to you on the matter,” Tan said.

Clara Lee, who lives in SS2, Petaling Jaya, has been left confused and frustrated with the situation.

“Every time there is a water disruption, my area is the worst hit. Unscheduled water cuts have also become common,” said the 44-year-old executive.

When this occurs, she has to drive all the way to her grandmother’s house — with her two-year-old toddler — in Kelana Jaya to have a bath.

“You don’t expect me to be on the Internet every few hours checking when they are going to decide to cut my water supply,

“Furthermore, every time I call I get the same excuses,” she said.

Some residents have resorted to installing extra water tanks to cope with the problem.

“We installed a redundant water tank in our house, so we don’t feel it quite as much as some of our neighbors,” said Oliver Gomez.

The 31-year-old blogger, from Kuala Lumpur, pointed out the situation was especially deplorable during the recent haze.

Syabas corporate communications and public affairs assistant general manager Priscilla Alfred said their staff at their call centre are available to attend to customers 24 hours a day. Syabas has doubled its telephone lines to 120 from the previous 60.

“Sometimes people may not get through the lines as our current statistics show we are receiving an average of 4,186 calls a year,

“We strongly encourage customers to contact us through our website, and be friends with us on our social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter,” she said.

Priscilla said these sites are very up to date and that Syabas customer service will reply complaints promptly. She also said Malaysia was experiencing a very low water reserve which is just at one per cent.

She advised the public to save water.