At first we suspected that the underground cold water pipe at the kitchen was leaking. Naturally if there is a leak the cloth would soak up the water that penetrates through the floor tiles. If that is a leakage in the underground plumbing then it would cause not only a lot of money but also grave inconvenience to rectify the defect. For example the plumber will have to excavate the floor to locate and repair the defective pipe. After that we will have to hire a mason and tiler to reinstate the concrete and the floor tiles. While the repair work is going on the whole kitchen would be in a mess.
However strangely my wife notes that during the day time the floor and the cloth are always dry. On the few occasions that we notice the cloth soaked with water it is always in the early morning when the family members gather for breakfast before going to work. My wife also notice that it usually occurs after a heavy thunderstorm accompanied by strong winds the night before.
To get to the bottom of the mystery we observed the cloth for two consecutive nights. During these two periods of observation the sky was clear with no strong winds and thunderstorm. The cloth was dry the next morning.
We can now conclude that the water must be from the rain. Strong winds blow the rainwater into the kitchen via the flashing joint between concrete and the asbestos roof. As the house is more than 20 years old the seal in the flashing joint between the roof and the concrete must have worn out due to wear and tear.
We can live with the occasional leak of rainwater that gets into the kitchen carried by strong winds via the old flashing but definitely not a leaking underground pipe.
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