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Resolving an Apartment Building Water Outage Through Emergency Construction
Apartment Building, Kanagawa Prefecture
- #Buildings
- #Apartments
- #Facility Renovation Work
Contents
Background of the Request
In this apartment building, water is supplied to each residential unit from an elevated water tank installed on the rooftop. A low-water alarm for the elevated water tank had been sounding intermittently for some time, raising suspicion of an abnormality. Although the cause was difficult to identify at first glance, a careful investigation revealed damage to a water supply pipe inside an underground pit. Because sufficient water was not being delivered to the elevated water tank, a water outage occurred throughout all units.
On-Site Investigation and Emergency Response
Although the sound of leaking water was confirmed from inside the underground pit, visual confirmation was difficult because the space was narrow and dark. In addition, water had accumulated inside the pit, so we first drained the water with a drainage pump and then entered the pit to investigate. As a result, we confirmed that water was spraying from the water lifting pipe. Because the pipe ran inside the wall, the deeper conditions could not be directly confirmed, but leakage from a pipe joint was suspected.
Because the investigation results became clear in the evening, repairs on the same day were difficult. As an emergency measure, we posted a notice explaining how residents could obtain water from a shared hose bib in the apartment building’s common area and asked for their cooperation.
Emergency Construction
The next day, we brought the necessary materials and carried out emergency construction. Because the leaking point was inside the wall, we changed the route by installing new exposed piping that bypassed the affected area to the first-floor pipe space, allowing water to be lifted to the elevated water tank.
The work was difficult in an underground space with poor workability, but restoration was completed on the same day. The amount of water lifted to the elevated water tank also improved significantly, and we confirmed that there were no pump abnormalities.
Summary
This was a difficult case in which the cause was hard to identify, but through reliable investigation and flexible selection of construction methods, we were able to resolve the water outage in a short period of time. In addition to daily inspection and cleaning operations, we respond to sudden equipment problems and support residents’ safe and comfortable lives.
