Why Does the Water Smell Like Thinner? 5,200-Household Apartment Complex Upset

[Anchor]

Water supply was cut off for about 14 hours yesterday (September 19) at a large apartment complex in Suwon. The management cut off the water after residents reported a thinner-like odor coming from the tap, and anxiety among residents is growing as it will take time for water quality test results to come in.

Reporter Lee Tae-gwon covers the incidents and accidents.

[Reporter]

At a large apartment complex in Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, dozens of residents are gathered in front of the management office, voicing complaints despite the dark night.

[When can we drink the water? Can we not drink the tap water?]

At around 9:40 a.m. yesterday, numerous complaints from residents stating that "the tap water smells like paint thinner" were filed with the district office regarding this apartment complex, which consists of about 5,200 households.

The apartment management office stated that thinner odors had seeped into the water during epoxy waterproofing work on the water tanks within the complex. Consequently, they suspended water supply to 155 out of 158 buildings and proceeded to clean the water tanks.

Although the water outage was lifted around midnight, residents are still voicing anxiety.

[Apartment Resident: My mother-in-law lives here, and the water was cut off there, but they turned it back on a little while ago. They say it's running so people are using some of it, but of course we're uneasy. Since daytime, there were strong smells and things like that.]

Jangan-gu Office in Suwon stated that it provided emergency water supplies through water trucks and nearby community centers and conducted water quality tests, but expects it to take more than three weeks for the results to come out.

(Camera Footage by Joo Yong-jin | Video Editing by Lee Sang-min)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.