Does Your Condo Have A Water Quality Problem?
If you have lived in UK, Australia or Hong Kong, you probably take it for granted tap water at your condominium or house is potable. But in Malaysia, the quality of water you get in your condo depends on a lot of factors you might not be aware of.
Problems in any areas from the main supply from Air Selangor, main water filter , rooftop storage tanks and the reticulation pipelines to your unit might all affect the quality of water you get from the tap.
Mains water supply
Selangor and KL residents are now used to frequent disruption from burst water pipes. Poor water management causes around 30% of water to be lost through leaks because many asbestos cement pipes installed decades ago have yet to be replaced.
Water filter receiving mains water supply
All high rise buildings have a water filter that receives water from the main pipeline. But the sediment layers in the filter need to be replaced on a regular basis.
Does your property management team know when the sediment layers were last replaced? The water filter also needs backwashing every day. Is this important step done at your condo?
Water tank storage
Water is usually pumped up and stored at rooftop water tanks to supply individual units below. No matter how effective the mains water filter is, inevitably the water supply to your condo still contains fine sediments. Rooftop tanks (see picture) are usually cleaned annually by specialists to remove a fine layer of silt at the bottom. Usually, a water quality report is commissioned after cleaning to check for impurities, pH etc. A water quality test report costs around RM500-700. For an example see below.
Do you get a copy of the water quality test report from your property management team at your condo on a regular basis?
At one KL condo I know, there were complaints of smelly brownish water from taps in the mornings. A newly appointed building executive was sent to investigate the source of the problem. I think but cannot be 100% sure the cause of the brownish water was the sediment layers in the 10+ year old main water filter not being replaced regularly and no regular backwashing. But then, the new building executive reported the presence of bat guano at the bottom of a partially exposed water tank. Someone had apparently not properly locked the cover. Apparently a colony of fruit bats had undetected made their home inside the water tank.
Pipelines to individual units. If your condo was constructed more than 20 years ago, there is a good chance the water pipelines are made of galvanized iron. The problem with GI piping is that over time they get corroded with deposits found naturally in hard water and often burst at the joints. Newer condos typically have polypropylene pipes inside the units (except for those carrying hot water) because they have less problems with corrosion and are cheaper to install.
Pipelines within your unit are of course not part of the common property of your condominium. So it’s your responsibility and not the MC or JMB to make sure any leaks are fixed.
🤠’s Dua Sen: Make sure your property management team is aware of the need for regular inspections of rooftop water tanks. At all the condos that I’ve been a member of the MC or JMB committee I have requested daily checks of the rooftop water tanks, daily backwashing of the mains water filter , annual washing of storage tanks and a change of sediment layers every 5 years for the mains water filter.
I also think your JMB or MC should get water quality at your condo tested annually -it helps allay residents concerns that water from their taps is potable.
Post Script
1 Besides bat guano, did you know human remains have also been found in rooftop water tanks. See CNN' s report on “How did a woman's body come to be in a LA hotel water tank”. The case of Elisa Lam was dramatised for a Netflix series -The Vanishing At Cecil Hotel.
2 Many years ago (in another life) yours truly was employed as a professional stock picker (aka investment analyst). One of my sectors was building materials suppliers (cement, asbestos cement pipes for water and sewage, rebars, etc). One of the companies I wrote reports about was UAC (a listed company) that produced asbestos cement pipes and boards. Of course, the dangers of friable asbestos fibres getting airborne is now well documented and these type of pipes and boards are no longer manufactured. But I think a lot of old houses in Malaysia might still have asbestos ceiling sheets that were installed decades ago.
