Singapore contractor fined for water contamination at condominium near River Valley Road

Everrise Maintenance was hired to carry out repair works after a crack was found on a water tank cover. The cover has since been replaced. PHOTOS: PUB

SINGAPORE - A local contractor was fined $8,500 for an incident that led to water contamination at a private condominium near River Valley Road, said national water agency PUB on Monday (Dec 28).

Everrise Maintenance was convicted on Dec 1 for failing to ensure that regulated works were carried out by a licensed plumber. It resulted in contamination to water supplied by PUB to Waterford Residence on Sept 8.

PUB said after it received calls from residents about a smell in the water on Sept 9, it immediately sent officers to jointly investigate the incident with the condominium's managing agent (MA).

"The smell was traced to one of the two compartments in the high-level water tank, which was immediately isolated to conduct flushing works.

"The MA also conducted a full flush of the service pipes, which led to disruption of water supply to 60 residential units in the affected block for about three hours," said PUB.

Everrise Maintenance was hired by the MA to carry out repair works after an approximately 10cm long crack was found on the water tank cover of one of the condominium's high-level tanks.

Instead of hiring a licensed plumber, Everrise Maintenance told its workers to fix the crack line without proper instructions.

The workers applied sealant on both the exterior as well as the interior of the water tank cover, causing water inside the tank to be contaminated.

Under the Public Utilities Act, those convicted of causing contamination to water supplied by PUB can be fined up to $50,000, while failure to ensure regulated works are carried out by a licensed plumber carries a maximum fine of $10,000.

"We would like to remind all customers and building owners that regulated work on all water service installations, including water storage tanks, must be carried out by a licensed plumber," said Mr Ridzuan Ismail, director of Water Supply (Network) at PUB.

"Building owners are also responsible for the regular maintenance of the water service installations, including the need to engage a licensed plumber to inspect and certify, at least once every 12 months, that the tanks are fit and safe for the storage of potable water and free from contamination or pollution, and ensure that there is no leakage or likelihood of leakage in the water service installations," he added.

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