DUBAI // The water cut at a luxury development on the Palm Jumeirah that left residents bathing in the sea and swimming pool has ended after four days.
Some tenants at the seven-building Oceana complex had been frequenting nearby malls to use their toilet facilities. Others sparingly apportioned drinking water to cook and clean.
Today, they woke up to fully running taps.
"I had a good shower this morning," said Markus Mueller, a 39-year-old resident from Germany who had resorted to morning dips at Oceana's private beach. "I feel fresh."
As a precaution though, before leaving for work, he filled a bucket with shower water and set aside some water bottles.
"I'm prepared for the weekend," he said.
During the cut, the property manager of Oceana, Asteco, had distributed a few bottles of drinking water and offered a half-price rate of Dh250 for select hotels, excluding taxes.
A spokesperson for Asteco said she was not aware of plans to offer additional compensation.
The maintenance team had shut Oceana's main water pipe on Sunday to fix one leak. As they worked, additional pipes burst.
While fixing those, they took the opportunity to make other improvements to the system such as adding valves. The changes are meant to reduce the likelihood of future breakages and, if one occurs, allow workers to isolate the problem to separate buildings rather than the entire complex.
"It was unfortunate that it took longer than initially expected. But at least the issues have been sorted and the system upgraded," said the Asteco spokesperson.
"It is very unlikely" that the pipes will break again, she said. "All of the right steps have been taken."
The facility management firm responsible for repairing the pipes, Khidmah, began working for Oceana at the start of this month.
