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Dirty water floods stores
Backflow after heavy rains affect Orchard Road basement outlets
By Arul John
October 08, 2008
UPSET: Mr Mahtani showing the stain on his Tanglin Shopping Centre store's carpet due to water seepage. TNP PICTURE: ARUL JOHN
On 26 Sep, tailor and textile merchant Ishwar Mahtani opened his store at Tanglin Shopping Centre for business, only to see that water had seeped in from a neighbouring pub through the wall between both units.
THE stench of dirty water was the first thing he detected.
Heavy rains that day led to floods in several parts of Singapore, including Orchard Road, where the shopping centre is located.
The pub and Mr Mahtani's store are located in the basement level of the shopping centre, which is about 36 years old.
Mr Mahtani, 46, said: 'After heavy rains, water from the nearby drains and canals flows into the shopping centre's drainage system, and back into units which have floor traps installed.
'When there is an overflow, the water flows out of the floor traps and seeps into those units and some neighbouring ones too.
'During a flooding last December, I lost several thousands of dollars when waste water soiled my silk fabrics and ruined the carpet.
Mr Mahtani's store does not have a floor trap, but the pub does. He said the units on the upper floors were not affected by the problem.
Mr Yashwanth Jaganath Singh, 21, a supervisor at the Indian Grill restaurant at the basement of the shopping centre, also saw a pool of sewage water when he opened at 10am that day.
'It took me and the other staff members nearly two hours to clear the water and freshen up the place.'
Mr Murali Pejathaya, 43, the manager of Bombay Woodlands Restaurant, which was also in the basement, said his restaurant was also affected, and it took him and his staff nearly three hours to clean up.
Both restaurants have floor traps.
Said building manager Richard Yew: 'After the incident last year, the affected tenants contacted PUB and we consulted with them to find a solution.
'PUB suggested we install a backflow valve. The shopping centre's drainage pipes are connected to the sewers, and the one-way valve would let waste water flow towards the sewers but prevent any back flow.'
Mr Yew said the valve was installed at a cost of $8,000 and is still under warranty.
He said: 'But we don't know how the backflow occurred on that day. When Mr Mahtani informed me of the problem, I called the supplier and they inspected the valve. They will give us a report later.'
Mr Tan Thai Pin, PUB's water reclamation network director, said their investigations showed the problem was caused by the shopping centre's private sewer system where the basement floor traps were lower than its ground level and this affected the discharge of used water into the public sewerage system.
He said: 'Early this year, the management corporation enhanced its internal sanitary system by installing a pumping system.
'Since then, there have been no reports of seepage till the incident last week.
'Now, PUB is assisting the MC of the shopping centre to further improve the sanitary system.'
Dirty water floods stores
Backflow after heavy rains affect Orchard Road basement outlets
By Arul John
October 08, 2008
UPSET: Mr Mahtani showing the stain on his Tanglin Shopping Centre store's carpet due to water seepage. TNP PICTURE: ARUL JOHN
On 26 Sep, tailor and textile merchant Ishwar Mahtani opened his store at Tanglin Shopping Centre for business, only to see that water had seeped in from a neighbouring pub through the wall between both units.
THE stench of dirty water was the first thing he detected.
Heavy rains that day led to floods in several parts of Singapore, including Orchard Road, where the shopping centre is located.
The pub and Mr Mahtani's store are located in the basement level of the shopping centre, which is about 36 years old.
Mr Mahtani, 46, said: 'After heavy rains, water from the nearby drains and canals flows into the shopping centre's drainage system, and back into units which have floor traps installed.
'When there is an overflow, the water flows out of the floor traps and seeps into those units and some neighbouring ones too.
'During a flooding last December, I lost several thousands of dollars when waste water soiled my silk fabrics and ruined the carpet.
Mr Mahtani's store does not have a floor trap, but the pub does. He said the units on the upper floors were not affected by the problem.
Mr Yashwanth Jaganath Singh, 21, a supervisor at the Indian Grill restaurant at the basement of the shopping centre, also saw a pool of sewage water when he opened at 10am that day.
'It took me and the other staff members nearly two hours to clear the water and freshen up the place.'
Mr Murali Pejathaya, 43, the manager of Bombay Woodlands Restaurant, which was also in the basement, said his restaurant was also affected, and it took him and his staff nearly three hours to clean up.
Both restaurants have floor traps.
Said building manager Richard Yew: 'After the incident last year, the affected tenants contacted PUB and we consulted with them to find a solution.
'PUB suggested we install a backflow valve. The shopping centre's drainage pipes are connected to the sewers, and the one-way valve would let waste water flow towards the sewers but prevent any back flow.'
Mr Yew said the valve was installed at a cost of $8,000 and is still under warranty.
He said: 'But we don't know how the backflow occurred on that day. When Mr Mahtani informed me of the problem, I called the supplier and they inspected the valve. They will give us a report later.'
Mr Tan Thai Pin, PUB's water reclamation network director, said their investigations showed the problem was caused by the shopping centre's private sewer system where the basement floor traps were lower than its ground level and this affected the discharge of used water into the public sewerage system.
He said: 'Early this year, the management corporation enhanced its internal sanitary system by installing a pumping system.
'Since then, there have been no reports of seepage till the incident last week.
'Now, PUB is assisting the MC of the shopping centre to further improve the sanitary system.'
