Big stink from burst sewage pipe at void deck
She was on her way to work and was walking past the lift lobby of a Housing Board block when she was hit by a stench.
To her horror, she noticed that a plastic pipe at the ceiling had burst and sewage was flowing out of it.
"I noticed the water flowing before realising that it came from the pipe that was burst. The smell was awful," said Ms Ashley Ong, 32, a civil servant.
Worse still, when she walked past the same place after work on Monday evening, the pipe was still leaking and had yet to be fixed.
"I was disappointed that nothing had been done. The smell was so bad, my husband and I had to walk as quickly as possible past it. It's very bad because it's so unhygienic," said Ms Ong, who called The New Paper hotline.
The incident happened at Orchid Spring, Block 430A, at Yishun Avenue 11.
A resident at the block, who wanted to be known only as Mr Shariff, 30, a safety coordinator, said he could not smell the sewage from his flat on the ninth storey.
"Only when I leave the house do I see the sewage and it is disgusting because of the sight and the smell," he added.
"I wonder how the pipe could have burst so soon, as this is a recently completed block."
REPAIR
A Nee Soon Town Council spokesman told TNP yesterday morning that it was aware of the issue and was working with the HDB to repair the broken pipe.
When The New Paper team visited the block at about 1pm yesterday, we noticed that the broken pipe had been fixed.
A worker, who was dressed in a Nee Soon Town Council T-shirt, said his team had been tasked to wash the lift lobby three times over the past two days. Another team was doing the repairs.
He said: "People were informed not to use their toilets while repairs were going on.Because of the residents who do, more sewage sometimes pours out of the pipe before we can patch up the hole."
The burst pipe's function was to carry waste and sewage from apartments to a central sewage system elsewhere. As such, the plumbing that brought water into the house was largely unaffected.
Residents at the block that TNP spoke to said they were able to continue using the sinks in their kitchens and toilets, washing machines and shower facilities despite the burst pipe.
They were told by the HDB not to use the toilets only while repairs were going on.
Mr Shariff said the repair works for the pipe started at about 10.20am yesterday and was completed at about 11am.
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