SINGAPORE - When Madam Hainon Ahamad, 52, discovered her tap water and toilet bowl water was a muddy brown colour, she decided she would rather spend six hours in a shopping mall than stay at home.

The housewife was among the residents at six Housing Board blocks in Jurong West Street 74 affected by discoloured water coming out of their taps on Wednesday (Oct 27).

Madam Hainon, who has been living in a four-room flat at Block 755 for 21 years, said she was shocked when she noticed the strange phenomenon around 2pm.

"I was in a panic - how do I use the toilet? I asked my daughter to follow me to Jurong Point to use the toilet there, and we hung around the mall till 8pm. I'd rather walk around outside because I'm scared of coming home to the dirty water as it seems unhygienic," she told The Straits Times on Thursday.

Notices put up by West Coast Town Council at the blocks said that there was "an unexpected dirty PUB incoming supply" that affected Block 752 to 761 at Jurong West Street 74.

They also said residents could use tap water to shower from 2am on Thursday, but advised them not to consume it till 6pm on Thursday.

The notices were replaced with another one around 5pm on Thursday, stating that water supply had resumed and had been tested for quality.

National water agency PUB said on Thursday that normal water supply was progressively restored to the affected blocks on Wednesday night, after its officers had assisted the West Coast Town Council with flushing the water network and the affected blocks' water tanks.

PUB also sent water wagons to provide temporary water supplies to affected residents, and worked with the town council to inform affected residents about the situation and hand out water bags.

By the time Madam Hainon went to the water wagons after 8pm on Wednesday, there were no more water bags.

"I had no choice but to bring five pails and a trolley to collect water. I have a big family - there's seven of us - so it was troublesome to distribute the water among ourselves when bathing and praying," she said.

She added that she was lucky she cooked dinner for the family in the morning before the whole ordeal.

"I didn't dare to use the toilet the whole night, but luckily after midnight the water seemed back to normal. However, in the morning my husband discovered one of our toilets could not be flushed."

Mr Krishnam, 62, a cleaner who lives in an executive flat in Block 752, said he bought eight bottles of 1-litre mineral water bottles for his family as he did not have pails to collect water.

"We did not bathe last night, but luckily this morning when we woke up, the water was not brown and dirty anymore," he said, adding that the water had no odour.

Accountant Maria Lie, 39, who lives with her brother, his wife and their three children in a four-room flat, said the household was not too affected as water filters were installed in the master bedroom toilet and the kitchen.

"All six of us bathed in the master bedroom toilet yesterday as the water was normal there. But the kitchen toilet's water was affected - it was brown and looked like there were soil sediments. Even when I flushed the toilet, there was no difference," she said.

"Luckily we could cook dinner as per normal as the kitchen tap was not affected."

Her brother bought 20 bottles of mineral water, each 500ml, on Wednesday evening to tide the family of six through the night.

PUB is investigating the cause of the incident.