Balmoral Crescent condo basement carpark flooding caused by faulty valve, not rainfall: PUB

Isabelle Liew
The Straits Times
May 4, 2024

A faulty valve at The Twins condominium in the Bukit Timah area on May 4 led to its basement carpark being submerged in knee-deep water.

A video of a resident wading through the flooded carpark, with the water level covering the tyres of several cars, circulated in chat groups that day.

Another resident, who declined to be named, told The Straits Times that about 20 cars were affected.

National water agency PUB said in a Facebook post that it was alerted to the flooding incident at 6 Balmoral Crescent at 7.55am.

PUB said that it worked with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and the building’s managing agent to deploy drainage pumps to help drain the water from the carpark.

PUB said investigations showed that a faulty valve in the basement’s sprinkler storage tank caused water to overflow and flood the carpark.

It added: “This is an isolated incident not caused by rainfall. At the time of the incident, rainfall over the area was not heavy, and the nearby drains were not flowing at full capacity.”

Heavy rainfall on May 4 prompted PUB to issue flood warnings for several areas in Singapore.

The downpour also resulted in some flights at Changi Airport being delayed and caused some passengers to be able to claim their luggage only hours later.

The resident who declined to be named said a cleaner had alerted him to the incident at around 7.20am.

He said: “I went down and saw the water was knee-deep, and I called the authorities immediately. I think there will be water damage to my car.

“I was shocked. I never expected to see such a sight in the carpark.”

When ST arrived outside the condominium at around 2pm, PUB officers were pumping the water out, onto the two-lane road.

Retired property agent Jasmine Wong, 64, said she had to take a private-hire car to her lunch appointment as she could not get to her car.

“I’m worried my car won’t start as it has been submerged for many hours,” she said.

An SCDF spokesman said there were no reported injuries.