KUCHING, March 5 — Many areas here experienced water supply interruption due a trip on Sarawak Energy Berhad’s (SEB) 33kV circuits connecting its Batu Kitang 33kV substation at 6.48pm today.
According to a statement from the Kuching Water Board (KWB), due to the power outage, its Batu Kitang treatment plant became powerless, thus not being able to pump and supply treated water out to consumers.
“SEB managed to restore supply to Batu Kitang Water treatment plant at around 8.15am. SEB suspects lightning could be the cause of the tripping,” said KWB.
The board said the treatment plant has power generators which are always on standby in case of power outage such as this, but the transition to use the generators required time as they were at eight different locations.
“It is during this transition that causes a sudden drop in water pressure in areas served by the pumps directly.
“However, those areas served through reservoirs will have little or no impact,” explained KWB.
The board added that even though power supply by SEB was restored, it would still take at least an hour or two for water pressure to build up to normal. — Borneo Post
