Zairil Khir Johari, the state infrastructure committee chairman, said the TNB contractors had accidentally drilled into a major pipeline on Sept 19, causing a 1.2m diameter pipe to rupture.

“This was 15m underground or at least five storeys down. TNB carried out horizontal directional drilling (sideways drilling) when it struck the pipe,” he said in response to a supplementary question from Goh Choon Aik (PH-Bukit Tambun).

“It took a while to reinstall the new pipe due to challenges, as a specially fabricated pipe had to be ordered and installed along the bridge.”

The Penang Water Supply Corporation spent RM2 million repairing a section of the pipeline near the Seberang Perai Polytechnic, which affected most parts of Juru and the entire Seberang Perai South district.

Approximately 97,000 accounts were affected, with repairs completed on Oct 5.

In a separate update, Zairil revealed that six new water treatment plants were set to be constructed in the coming years, with a combined capacity of 600 million litres a day (MLD).

He said that on average, 1,198 MLD of treated water is supplied to the state. Penang’s average water consumption in 2023 was 877 MLD.

Goh then suggested that the Penang government consider implementing a guaranteed water supply mechanism, based on the number of planning permissions granted in any area.