Dubai: An investigation has been launched by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) into why a main water pipeline burst — flooding part of Discovery Gardens late on Thursday night.
Abdullah Al Hajri, Executive Vice-President, Customer Services at Dewa told Gulf News, that a 1.2 metre diameter pipe cracked and then burst at 10pm on July 18, releasing massive amounts of water due to the high pressure of the water supply. He said that there was no blast as some reports suggested but the sound was due to a massive leakage of water with pressure.
An emergency response team from Dewa closed off the water supply to the damaged pipeline within 20 minutes of the burst, he said. The cracked pipe was one of the main water lines in the area.
Despite the flooding, Al Hajri confirmed that the water supply in the Discovery Gardens area was not disrupted as a result of the use of the back-up pipeline.
Khawla Al Mehairi, Vice-President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Dewa, said: “There was a breakage last night [Thursday night] in one of the lines. However, we responded fast and the matter was under control. The main cause is still unknown and the matter is under investigation. However the water services supply is not impacted because our system is very reliable and the area won’t suffer from any water shortage.”
Hoping to pump out the water from the area as quickly as possible, Nakheel, the real estate developer, and the RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency have also confirmed that they have been working with emergency teams from Dewa and the police throughout the night to secure the area for residents and are hoping to resolve the problem in the next few hours.
