We renew water and sewer mains regularly to maintain and deliver quality services to our customers. This may cause some disruption to service and traffic.
See our planned works and interruptions page for the latest information on planned works in our region.
Why we renew mains
The majority of mains we replace are from the 1950s. However some mains in our region date back to the 1890s.
We need to monitor the health of our ageing water and sewer mains to know whether they need to be renewed or replaced.
Ongoing maintenance helps to:
- prevent potential bursts
- save water
- minimise impact to customer services
- reduce maintenance and repair costs.
How we renew mains
When repairing or replacing mains, we try to reduce the impact on customers and the environment as much as possible.
Trenchless methods are more environmentally friendly than open trenches as they require significantly less excavation. They reduce:
- greenhouse gas emissions by 90 per cent on average
- construction costs by 25 to 50 per cent
- damage to trees and root systems, waterways, nature strips, gardens and driveways.
- road closures and disruption to residents and businesses.
Monitoring our mains sewer mains
There are a number of techniques we use to find ‘hotspots’ in our systems such as leaks and illegal stormwater connections.
- Smoke testing – we isolate sections of mains and pump in smoke to see where it escapes.
- CCTV pipeline inspection – a camera is fed through mains to take video footage.
Once located, gaps can be repaired and connections removed.
Last updated on 14 Jul 2023