Video shows black water gushing out of a sink in Ifor Evans Hall. Video source supplied/The Cheese Grater
Grim footage show the moment residents returned to their UCL hall to find black water gushing out of the sinks.
A single thunderstorm in early May took out the fragile pipes at Ifor Evans Hall, resulting in water dripping from the hallway ceilings and sinks draining the wrong way.
Footage seen by The Cheese Grater shows at least three rooms have been flooded in the same way, although a UCL spokesperson said five residents were relocated during the incident.
In one video, a resident is heard saying: “I’m on my phone texting, and suddenly I hear ‘pit-pat-pit-pat’ and I’m like, what the f**k? Have I left the sink on? And I turn around and this is how it looks… Such a nightmare.”
In another video, black water is seen gushing out of the sink and the sink cabinet, with residents utterly powerless to do anything about the situation.
‘Such a nightmare!’ powerless residents exclaim. Video source supplied/The Cheese Grater
The unlucky resident, Hongwei Zhu, who was lost for words in the video, told The Cheese Grater he was immediately moved to a replacement room but never received an explanation from UCL for the incident.
He said the timing “could not have been worse” as he had to sit his “most important exam” the following day.
Hongwei added: “I’m always nervous during the exam period but [the burst pipes] definitely worsened the circumstances”.
Later, when he reported to the hall team that his Apple charger had been damaged by the water, the University said its team was “unable to confirm any damage to [Hongwei’s] possessions”, because he had moved everything out of the flooded room already.
He said he felt irritated by UCL’s response, adding: “They’re just trying to avoid their responsibilities… it’s part of ongoing patterns of poor maintenance and a lack of care for residents’ wellbeing”.
This incident adds to the numerous episodes of maintenance sagas at UCL halls in recent years. In March, 70 residents at 109 Camden Road joined a bid to claim financial compensation en masse for what they called “normalised” maintenance issues.
Its Hall Officer Oskar Baltrop said: “These students have been failed by UCL Accommodation, like so many others… how much worse does it have to get before UCL Accommodation begins to to invest in its own sites?”
The Union’s Accommodation Officer and President-elect Ben Scanlan added: “This incident is emblematic of what has been going on not just at 109 Camden Road, but across UCL estates.
“UCL has failed to provide adequate services for its students in the name of cutting costs and maximising profit.”
A UCL spokesperson said: “The safety and welfare of our students is our number priority.
“Following an intense storm in London on May 12, we provided alternative accommodation to five students living in our Camden Road halls.
“Carpet cleaning and maintenance checks were carried out in all the affected rooms and the students were allowed access to both their permanent and temporary rooms during the disruption. No permanent damage was caused and students were allowed back into their rooms as soon the work had been completed.
“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused during this time.”
This article appeared in CG92
