Koh Kong town was left without a clean water supply on Friday when the company responsible for the utility made repairs to a filter pipe. Koh Kong resident Ing Soth yesterday said the water was so dirty that the villagers could not use it at all over the weekend.

The water supply in some areas was cut off completely and many families had to buy drinking water.

“On Monday, the water started to become cleaner, but was still a bit dirty in some areas,” Soth said. “We filtered and boiled it before using it.”

A joint statement issued on Saturday by the tycoon Ly Yong Phat’s LYP Group, which supplies the town’s water, and the Koh Kong provincial department of industry and handicraft said there was no time to warn the town’s residents, who were surprised when the flow from taps suddenly became dirty.

“The company didn’t stop supplying water while repairing the damaged filter pipe, which made the water unclean,” the statement said.The company apologised for the situation and said the repairs had been completed.

The water had started to become cleaner yesterday and would be completely clear within a couple of days, said LYP spokesman Phatt Bunhour.

LYP Group supplies 3,600 cubic meters of water per day in Koh Kong province, Bunhour said.