Schools, kindergartens and varsities brace for water rationing

Schools, kindergartens and varsities brace for water rationing

KUALA LUMPUR - Schools, kindergartens and institutes of higher learning in Selangor are bracing for the water supply crisis and have taken necessary precautions to ensure their operations are not disrupted.

An official from Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Serai in Hulu Langat, which experienced a water supply cut on Tuesday, said the school authorities have placed large containers filled with water at its canteen and at each toilet.

"We did not have water yesterday (Tuesday) and the school's water tank had dried up by 1am, so we thought it best to prepare extra containers of water to cope."

A canteen operator at Sekolah Kebangsaan Dengkil, near Sepang bought a 200-litre capacity water tank when they heard about the impending water rationing exercise.

The school has prepared pails to be filled with water, and placed at the toilets once the rationing kicks off.

Meanwhile, a teacher from Tadika Hati Ria in Seri Kem bangan said she was not aware about the water rationing exercise, and worried about how it would be for the 80 children at the kindergarten.

"We are running a kindergarten-cum-daycare centre. We use a lot of water. The relevant authorities should have sent an early notice to warn us. We use water to cook the children and to bathe them. The water in the tank could last a day," said the teacher who only wanted to be known as Lee.

Another teacher from Tadika Elite in Puchong, who did not want to be named said the kindergarten was already ex periencing low water pressure.

Meanwhile, several institutes of higher learning are preparing ahead for any worst case scenario.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, which is not in an area that will experience water rationing, has been facing a water shortage since last Thursday.

A statement from UKM said the water level at the Bangi reservoir had dropped drastically due to the high demand in places which are affected by.

"When our (UKM) maintenance department called National Water Services Commission (SPAN) to check on the situation, we were told that the water level in Bangi water reservoir had dropped drastically due to the high demand in places which were facing water cuts.

"This has also caused shortage of water in university's water reservoir ," the statement said.

The statement also said SPAN has assured that UKM will not be face any water cuts but had to to anticipate low water pressure during the day.

"SPAN has given us a guarantee that we will continue to have water, however, at low pressure during the day and bigger capacity at night."

UKM's maintainence department will also soon appoint panel contractors to transport water to hostels and to setup static tanks in the vicinity of the university.

Meanwhile, certain institutions were not affected by the water disruptions but have braced for the worst.

One of them was University Putra Malaysia (UPM).

Although the university in Serdang is not included in the water rationing schedule and has yet to experience any water disruptions, but it has taken preventive measures in case of any eventuality.

UPM Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Mohammad Shatar Sabran said they have placed water tanks for each of the 17 colleges on campus.

"I have heard of other institutions that are experiencing issues with their water supply, so I would like to avoid that situation with UPM," said Mohammad Shatar.

"We also have an additional one or two large tanks for good measure."

While he does not believe their water reserves are sufficient to last long, he hopes it will prevent a critical situation.

"Because we have a large amount of students, we assume the water should last at least a few days until Syabas is able to send us water."

While many areas in Sepang are facing water shortages, a spokesperson from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) has stated that the airport has not experienced any issues with water supply of late

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