Katong condo pool closes after human faeces found in water

The estate management of a condo in Katong was recently confronted by a crappy situation when the property's swimming pool was contaminated by human faeces. 

A photo of a notice put up by the management of Butterworth 8 was uploaded to Sgfollowsall's Instagram page on Sunday (June 9).

Butterworth 8 is a condominium located in Katong and managed by Savills Property Management. 

The notice, dated June 8, informed residents that the main swimming pool would be closed for three days. 

There was also a picture of the pile of faeces at the bottom of the pool. 

The estate management wrote that the swimming pool vendor has since cleaned and vacuumed up the waste material, and will be treating the water for three days "until further notice". 

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They also appealed to any residents who had witnessed the incident to step forward to help identify the culprit. 

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused and look forward to your cooperation with us. All necessary steps will be taken to minimise inconvenience to residents of Butterworth 8." 

The estate management of Butterworth 8, when contacted by AsiaOne, declined to comment. 

At the time of writing, the post has received more than 2,600 likes and several comments from disgusted netizens. 

"Quite literally a s***** situation," said one netizen. 

"That's my condo brother ewww," wrote another. 

Stringent hygiene checks done in swimming pools: NEA

While finding faeces in a swimming pool may be a disgusting encounter, cases of defecation in pools are not unheard of, according to a Sunday Times poll of 45 swimmers in 2016.

Swimming coach Alvin Lee told The Straits Times then that he has seen stool at the bottom of training pools where children swim. 

Another coach, Lim Kim Seng, said such incidents are accidents as children are less able to control themselves. 

Unfortunately, cleaning a pool that has been contaminated with poo isn't so easy. 

Although the chlorine in the water kills most of the germs spread from the faeces, some germs take several minutes or even days to kill. 

"We have to add soda ash, chlorine and acid, which will kill the germs. It will take about an hour. Then we let the water run," said freelance pool cleaner Chris Rajoo Jayakrishnan in that report.

Separately, the National Environment Agency also conducts its own checks on pools at least once a month to ensure hygiene.

This includes swimming pools, water playgrounds and spa pools located at all non-residential premises. 

Pool water is tested by laboratories for chemical and bacteriological quality.

The agency also conducts spot checks to make sure regulations are followed. Pool operators can be fined up to $2,000 for each transgression.

READ ALSO: Woman in China throws bags of faeces from flat for 2 months, caught after poop splatters on man

claudiatan@asiaone.com