Businesses in Tampines hit by burst pipe

Temporary water supply provided to food stores in and near bus interchange

Clockwise from far left: A water pipe leak within a construction site at the junction of Tampines Avenue 5 and Tampines Central 2 yesterday affected water supply to the bus interchange and food stores in the area; food and beverage staff collecting w
A water pipe leak within a construction site at the junction of Tampines Avenue 5 and Tampines Central 2 yesterday affected water supply to the bus interchange and food stores in the area. ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG
Clockwise from far left: A water pipe leak within a construction site at the junction of Tampines Avenue 5 and Tampines Central 2 yesterday affected water supply to the bus interchange and food stores in the area; food and beverage staff collecting w
Food and beverage staff collecting water from a PUB water truck at the nearby Eastlink Mall. ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG
Clockwise from far left: A water pipe leak within a construction site at the junction of Tampines Avenue 5 and Tampines Central 2 yesterday affected water supply to the bus interchange and food stores in the area; food and beverage staff collecting w
A cleaner closing off a toilet at the Tampines bus interchange as its water supply was affected. ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG

Foodstall 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 with PUB on site with a water wagon and bags of water.

Work at the 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 they were without water from 9am.

Burst pipe leaves Tampines foodstall operators high and dry: Foodstall operators in and around Tampines bus interchange, including from the foodcourt at Eastlink Mall, queueing for water from a PUB water wagon after a pipe burst yesterday morning. The leak occurred 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, all the food outlets there, and a foodcourt at Eastlink Mall nearby. Many bus drivers had no access to toilets and water coolers as well, and were told by their supervisors to use the nearby MRT station's toilets instead. Water supply was fully restored by 2.30pm. ST PHOTO: CHEOW SUE-ANN

"It has affected our turnover because there is not enough water to cook and wash the vegetables. Some stalls have not been able to produce food yet," 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."

An SBS passenger service counter staff said that many bus captains had no access to toilets and water coolers as well, and were told by their supervisors to use the nearby MRT toilets instead.

In an update at 4.15pm, PUB said it carried out valve operations to draw water from other unaffected pipes.

"This has normalised water supply to customers who had earlier experienced poor pressure," it added.

And 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."

This is the third incident involving a pipe leak this week.

On Sunday, a burst pipe caused a 30-minute disruption to the water supply of residents living in Choa Chu Kang Avenue 2, while a burst pipe in Upper Serangoon Road on Monday closed two out of three lanes of the road.

• Additional reporting by Fabian Koh

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 04, 2017, with the headline Businesses in Tampines hit by burst pipe. Subscribe