Continued from here (part 1) and here (part 2).
This one started quite innocuously. We started getting hot water from the cold water taps in the kitchen and the bathrooms. Now this happens regularly in Mumbai during the summers; but this being April, and irrespective of the month, this being Edinburgh, this was definitely not a case of the sun heating up the water tank. At first we ignored it, but the water was scalding hot, and it became impossible to take a shower without running out of the stream of water every two seconds. It was happening in most of the flats.
We complained. Plumbers came and investigated. They were joined by the electrician. They talked about valves and high water pressure. They inspected all flats. They decided that it was a problem with the water pressure, and that additional valves would need to be fitted. They went about their work, opening up ceiling panels and putting additional valves. At the end of the day they announced that the problem had been fixed. The next day, we duly got scalding hot water from the cold water taps. We debated our next steps, unaware that this was soon to be the least of our worries.
On the 19th of May, our Indonesian flatmate came out of his room and announced that water was leaking out of the ceiling in his room. We went and had a look. This was not a moist patch on the ceiling. This was a leak of titanic proportions, no pun intended. The ceiling in one corner was completely drenched. Water was actually flowing down in a steady stream. As we looked at it and tried to comprehend what was happening, it reached the fire alarm, and started flowing down through it. It would soon reach the other electric stuff. I quickly rushed out and switched off the electric mains. Inside, there was more mayhem. The leakage was not restricted to one room, it had spread to the two bathrooms and the kitchen. In one of the bathrooms, water filled up the electric bulb casing, which dropped down from the unexpected load and dangled from the ceiling on the wire. I suppressed the temptation to measure the time period of this pendulum and thence calculate the value of 'g' in our flat. The time was for action, and we had to get out pots, pans and buckets and place them under the streams of water descending from the ceiling to save the carpets.
Click to enlarge
Meanwhile, the dripping fire alarm pondered over the unfamiliar situation. How it sensed the presence of dihydrogen monoxide when it was built to detect carbon monoxide is anybody's guess. It decided that fire or no fire, something was wrong and started wailing merrily. At this point there was nothing to do but summon our university and fire department overlords. They came by in a while. The flow of water had slowed down to a trickle by then. They inspected the flat above and discovered a leaking pipe in the bathroom. They fixed it, came back down and took a screwdriver and poked holes in the ceiling so that all the remaining water would fall down.
At this point the guy from the flat below us came up and told us that the ceiling in his room looked like it was a bit moist, that he was tired of the problems in the apartment, that he was going to complain and whether we would like to join him in doing so. We invited him in and after a short while, he left with a bit of perspective.
Really, that's more than I want to talk about the poltergeist now. Here's a nice short video to keep you amused:
