PBA Aqueduct Path

1h:21m:38s | 6.0 km
The PBA water authority Aqueduct Path is perhaps the most interesting walk on Penang Island from an engineering perspective. The path can be done in reverse but it is not know whether the gates on Jalan Sungai Satu are open through the week or on Sunday's only. The path option illustrated here begins directly across from the Bayview Beach Resort on Jalan Batu Ferringi (also known as Jalan Tanjung Bungah on some maps). Look for the Chin Farm sign on the left hand side of the road heading west (see photo). Take the gravel road for about 300 metres and look for a hiking trail on the right hand side. The trail is relatively level with a slight ascent passing large concrete water tanks and ultimately the Batu Ferringi Reservoir (see photo). The concrete roadway leads to the beginning of the aqueduct structure. On your right just before the junction there is a mockup of a canon perched on the upper slope. If you have time take a right at the junction and follow it to yet another reservoir and trail which leads to the river which feeds it. Otherwise continue straight as it's a very easy walk along a paved service road There are a number of buildings related to the operation of the aqueduct facility itself and service structures further on. The structures have a very unique architectural design which adds to the interest of this walk.

The aqueduct was built in the early 1900's and is an engineering marvel from a construction, architectural and physical layout point of view. A significant number of small dams have been constructed along the many small creeks which drain the forested hillsides of the catchment basin. Small pipelines then carry the water to the aqueduct structure which then drains towards the water treatment plants.The service road winds it's way eastward until reaching the point where the aqueduct continues on through a 1.5km tunnel which was built between 1926 and 1929. A lot of the water is destined for the Batu Ferringi Water Treatment facility at Batu Ferringi but much of it is drained off through the tunnel which extends to the Guillemard Water Treatment Plant near Jl. Lembuh Permai at Tanjung Bungah (see photo) (see PBA Permai, Carla's Peak, Beverly Hills trail by Larry Penang). The pipeline through the tunnel was apparently built within the last 10 years (h/t to Neil Hamilton on information related to the tunnel construction) and must have been an extremely difficult construction job to join all the pipes and bolt the sections together over the approximately 1.5 km small diameter tunnel route. From this point the path heads towards the Jl. Sungai Satu PBA entrance gate. From there it's an easy walk out to Jl. Batu Ferringi.