Kuala Belait - The entire town of Kuala Belait, excluding Seria, was without mains water supply for more than 24 hours since Monday after the underground pipe supplying water to elevated reservoir towers in the area was damaged.

Chua Pheng Keong, Assistant Director of Public Works Department for Belait and Tutong Districts, said the pipe was damaged by a piling beam during refurbishment works being carried out as part of the Flood Mitigation Project along the river at H14 in Seria.

Chua said that around 5pm Monday contractors carrying out piling works experienced a -technical difficulty", causing one of the piling beams to strike and burst the 24-inch underground water mains.

The workers immediately closed the supply valve to minimise wastage and for clearing works to be carried out.

Chua explained that the works involved in repairing the pipe had caused delays in restoring water supply. Just to access the pipe, workers had to dig up the ground, pump out the water and dry the damaged pipe, he said.

The close proximity of the damaged pipe to the river widening project, coupled with the heavy downpour on Sunday night, delayed the repair works further. The assistant director said that once they were informed of the problem, water tankers from the district and from Brunei-Muara and Tutong Districts were deployed to supply water to homes in the affected areas. When asked how long it will take for the water supply to be restored back to normal, Chua said that as there are eight elevated reservoir tanks throughout the Kuala Belait area, it would take at least seven to eight hours to refill them once the repairs have been completed.

He added that this also depends on the extent of the damage to the elevated tanks, as those who were living closer to the area would have normal water pressure restored earlier, while those farther away from each tower would have to be patient and wait for the water to return to normal.

During the interview with the assistant director at the site early yesterday, repairs to the pipe were almost completed, though Chua said it would still "take some time" to return water pressure back to normal.

-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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