‘They couldn’t find the cause’ — HDB owner is bothered by strange bubbles that have been appearing in his bathroom for four months now

SINGAPORE: A male HDB resident complained that strange bubbles have been mysteriously appearing in his bathroom every week for the past four months and, at one point, turned into a bubble pool. Despite reporting the incident to the authorities, they have yet to pinpoint what causes such a disturbance. 

The 67-year-old resident lives in a unit on the third floor at Jurong West. He admitted that for nearly 30 years of living there, he had never faced such problems before. However, four months ago, a large amount of soap bubbles came out of the drain in the bathroom, and it was accompanied by a slight odour. 

The man stated that the problem was most serious on weekends and happens even three times a day. With this, he and his family had to flush out water every time, and it takes them about 10 minutes to get the bathroom floor clean. On weekdays, bubbles would suddenly appear, but not as much. 

“Sometimes after I rinse it off, it bubbles up again within a few hours, which is very annoying,” he expressed. 

He observed that the bubbling problem occurred shortly after his downstairs neighbour had renovations, which made him suspect that there might be something, such as stones, blocking the drain pipe. 

This incident made them nervous, and they feared that when they went out, they would see bubbles overflowing from the bathroom and covering the entire house when they got home. 

The resident said that he reported this issue to the authorities many times and that they have sent people to check it three times. However, they still could not pinpoint the cause which delayed the resolution of the problem. 

HDB guidelines about pipes

According to the Housing and Development Board, all that needs to be done in relation to pipes such as replacement of existing PVC water pipe with copper/stainless steel pipe, diversion of sink waste pipe, enclosure/encasement of service ducts/piping (excluding gas pipe) using lightweight non-combustible materials, concealed waste/water pipes in floor finishes/wall, concealed air-conditioner discharge pipe in floor finishes, removal of surface-run water pipes, and removal of surface-run portion of the concealed hot and cold water pipes should follow the Public Utilities Board’s (PUB) regulations.

Every plumbing work that has to be made must comply with PUB requirements, and these can only be performed by a PUB-licensed Plumber. This is to ensure safety and quality, as well as guarantee that the plumbing work meets Singapore’s standards for water supply and sanitation systems.