Burst water mains in South Australia increased by 19.7 per cent in 2018

The number of burst water mains surged almost 20 per cent over the past year, with the Government demanding SA Water take more action to fix its network.

A burst water main on Henley Beach Road, Mile End, in November. Picture: AAP / Dean Martin

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The number of burst water mains surged almost 20 per cent over the past year, with 3940 pipes rupturing across the state, causing chaos for residents, commuters and business owners.

Water Minister David Speirs has vowed to continue to demand SA Water take additional action to stop pipe breaks and leaks, after they increased by 778 on 2017’s result.

The 2018 figure marked the third highest number of bursts and leaks since 2010.

Mr Speirs this year inherited the water portfolio from Labor’s outgoing minister Ian Hunter, who faced intense scrutiny on burst mains.

The number of burst water mains has increased under Water Minister David Speirs, exceeding the problems presided over by Ian Hunter, his predecessor. Cartoon: Jos Valdman

SA Water spokesman Peter Seltsikas said rapid changes in temperature and rainfall had led to the 19.7 per cent increase on last year.

“While our clay soils provide an extra challenge in managing the water network, last year’s long periods of dry followed by abrupt rain events was not something experienced in South Australia alone,” Mr Seltsikas said.

“Some water utilities along the eastern seaboard were also dealing with an increased number of water main breaks as a result of these weather conditions.

“Conversely, in our state in 2017, there were milder transitions between seasons, which resulted in more stable levels of moisture in the soils, and therefore fewer main breaks.”

Mr Speirs said he had made it “abundantly clear” to SA Water that it needed to do everything possible to reduce water main breaks and improve response times.

“While numbers go up and down depending on seasonal weather conditions, recent roll outs of new modern technologies such as the growing smart water network and a renewed focus on customer service are a good start to reducing the impact of breaks, but I will continue to demand more,” he said.

In Opposition, the Liberal Party were a vocal critic of burst water mains, with frontbencher David Pisoni describing 2016’s result of 3991 burst pipes, just 51 more than in 2018, as “utterly unacceptable”.

Labor acting water spokeswoman Katrine Hildyard said the Government was quickly discovering it needed to “do more than hold a media conference to address burst water mains”.

Of the 2018 breaks, 2046 were in regional SA, with 1894 in metropolitan areas. Brunch on Henley owner Rhonda Hassan, whose business was forced to close in May because of a burst water main on Henley Beach Rd, urged SA Water to invest in the water network.

Ms Hassan said her business lost up to $6000 as traffic was diverted away from her business as crews worked to fix the burst pipe on Henley Beach Rd.

Brunch on Henley closed in May after a burst water main caused traffic to be diverted away. Picture: Calum Robertson

“It was a big inconvenience and I would like to see more (investment in the network) to stop it happening in Adelaide as often,” she said.

“Adelaide’s full of old asbestos water pipes and they just wait for them to burst and fix them then, rather than going around and digging them up.”

An SA Water spokesman said its strategy was working despite the increase of bursts.

“The water main break rate remains lower than 2016 and 2015, which is an indicator that our world-leading smart water network technology and capital investment programs are delivering results,” he said.

SA Water installed about 82km of new mains across SA in 2018. Figures of sewerage pipe bursts in 2018 were not available, but the utility had 3664 sewer network faults in the 2017-18 financial year, an increase of 43 on 2016-17.

 

WATER MAINS BURSTS SINCE 2010:

2011: 3244

2012: 3402

2013: 3532

2014: 3255

2015: 4011

2016: 3991

2017: 3162

2018: 3940

The water main that burst in Rostrevor in December.

2018’s worst water mains bursts:

1. Henley Beach Rd, Lockleys, May 21

More than 30 houses were left without water after a burst water main caused traffic chaos and disruption to local businesses. Brunch on Henley owner Rhonda Hassan was forced to build dirt barricades to stop the flow of water.

2. Rostrevor, December 15

Four homes on Orbona St and Cortlyne Rd suffered water damage and a further 10 had water and silt flowing through them after a break occurred on a high-pressure main that fills a local storage tank.

3. Grenfell St, CBD, February 19

City traffic was reduced to just one lane from 7am to just before 4pm. There was another burst in the street in December.

4. South Rd, Hilton, February 15

An early-morning burst completely blocked off northbound traffic on the major thoroughfare between James Congdon Drive and Sir Donald Bradman Drive.