Tampines food sellers hit by burst pipe
Stall operators had to queue to collect water from PUB water wagon
Food stall operators in and around Tampines bus interchange had to collect water from a PUB water wagon to run their business after a pipe burst yesterday morning.
The national water agency said in a Facebook post that it had received a report on the leak within a construction site at the junction of Tampines Avenue 5 and Tampines Central 2 at around 6am.
This affected water supply to the bus interchange and all the food stores at the station, and a foodcourt at Eastlink Mall, which is near the station.
Temporary water supply was provided by PUB on site with a water wagon and bags of water.
Work at the construction site - for an overhead bridge over Tampines Avenue 5 that leads to Tampines Hub - was halted.
When The Straits Times arrived at the scene at about 12.40pm, staff from the foodcourt and interchange could be seen queueing for water in front of the PUB water wagon.
The manager of the foodcourt, who declined to be named, said it was without water from 9am.
"It affected our turnover because there is not enough water to cook and wash the vegetables," he said.
Ms Chiu Yan Chun, 39, an employee at Thousand Tastes, a stall at the interchange, said: "We were unable to wash any dishes for over three hours.
"The water stopped at around 7am to 8am, so we had to collect water to prepare the meals."
At 4.15pm, PUB said it carried out valve operations to draw water from unaffected pipes.
"This has normalised water supply to customers who had earlier experienced poor pressure," it added.
By 2.30pm, water supply was fully restored, with repair works to be completed by the end of the day.
PUB said in a Facebook post: "Our preliminary checks indicate that the pipe was dislodged by ongoing construction work, leading to the leak and consequent low water pressure to customers.
"PUB is further investigating how construction work had damaged the water pipe with a view of taking enforcement action against the errant constructor under the Public Utilities Act."- ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FABIAN KOH
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