Phetchabun Hospital water leak caused by high-power pump: director
Public reaction to a Facebook post prompted the director of Phetchabun Hospital to explain on Tuesday that water leaking from the ceiling of the third floor of the building was caused by a high-power pump after the hospital had tried to improve the tap-water flow.
Dr Weerasak Konglarpcharoen gave the explanation a day after a Facebook user, Pamornmas Soiin, posted a video clip on her Facebook wall showing water falling from the ceiling of an inpatient ward at the new hospital.
Pamornmas posted the clip on Monday after noticing the leak.
The clip was shared widely and drew much criticism of the hospital, with some suggesting that the water had come from the air-conditoning system and others suspecting that it was caused by the automatic sprinkler system.
Weerasak said that only three of the new hospital’s five floors had been opened prior to Monday.
After the building had been in use for a while, the hospital found that the water pressure on the third floor was too weak and it hired a contractor to improve the flow, but the problem returned five or six months later, he added.
As a result, the hospital hired a contractor to install a more powerful water pump.
Then, after the fourth and fifth floors were opened and the full water system was turned on on Monday, the water pressure on the third floor increased too much, causing the connectors of the tap-water pipes to break and resulting in the leakage, the director said.
The hospital shut down the water valves as an immediate measure and will have the pipes fixed by the contractor, he explained.