MERSING: The water level at the Congok Dam today showed a slight increase after a downpour last night, the first in the last two months.
The rain, which lasted around 20 minutes, increased the dam's water level by 0.12m, with the dam's current level now at 2.62m.
However this is still way below its critical level of 3.50m.
Syarikat Air Johor (SAJ) Holdings Sdn Bhd general manager for production and distribution, Elias Ismail, confirmed the slight rise in the water level. He said the dam and also the Tenglu Water Treatment Plant are both still in operation but running at minimal production.
"The rationing exercise is also continuing but with a slight change to several areas, where certain areas in the district are given six hours to stock up water instead of the previous 24-hour period," he said.
The areas affected by the change in scheduled water supply are Taman Nakhoda, Mersing town, Air Puteri and Taman Sri Mersing, which are scheduled to get water from 10am to 4pm.
Jalan Mahkota, Rumah Kilat and Mersing Kecil will get water supply between 5pm and 11pm.
He said the reason for cutting the distribution time at the selected areas was due to low production at Tenglu plant, as the dam reserves have dropped drastically.
"We also are deploying our reserved treated water through water tankers to areas which get low water supply at remote areas or on higher ground," he said.
He said SAJ is working hard to ensure that water supply to all residents will not be disrupted.
"We have more than 30 staff in Mersing alone who are working rigorously to ensure water supply reaches the user," he said.
SAJ supplies treated water to 82,000 account holders and 140,000 users in the district.