Oldest sewers to get free PUB checks for leaks at year end

If there's leakage, homes and businesses will get help with repair bill

By Meng Yew Choong
Aug 29, 2006
The Straits Times

These waste pipes, some nearing 50 years old, run under the oldest parts of Singapore - around the Singapore River, Kallang River, Geylang River and the Rochor and Stamford canals.

If leaks are found, these homes and businesses will get some help from the Public Utilities Board (PUB) with the repair bill.

Unlike Singapore's other water catchment areas in the suburbs, the Marina catchment and the Marina Reservoir will be sited in a highly urbanised area.

If sewage does not stay within the pipe network, it will contaminate the water in the new reservoir, which will be operational in 2008. Dangerous microbes aside, sewage also contains unwanted chemicals that will make the water more difficult - and costlier - to treat.

Because such sewer checks for private homes and businesses have not been done before, the PUB will run a public education programme to prepare affected residents and businesses for the exercise. Mailers will be sent out and dialogues with grassroots leaders will begin next month.

If leaks are found in the sewers, the PUB will help owners with part of the repair cost.

Fixing a leak could cost $200, but the final bill will depend on the amount of work needed, said Mr Tan Yok Gin, PUB's director for policy and planning.

A typical inspection will take an hour. PUB inspectors will insert a tiny video camera into the sewer, so no hacking or digging will be necessary.

The PUB assures home and business owners that they can carry on their activities uninterrupted.

The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim, who was at the completion ceremony of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System pumping station at Changi East yesterday, noted that the Government has put about $270 million into repairing 790km of public sewers over the last 10 years.

Another $153 million has been set aside for checks on 300km of public sewer pipes in the Marina catchment in the coming years, he said.

Private sewers account for half of the total sewage network measuring 3,400km.

mengyc@sph.com.sg