Mackay council hires dogs to sniff out water leaks

They might look cute and fluffy but these pooches will use their sniffing superpowers to uncover the culprits costing Mackay ratepayers a small fortune each year.

Troy Meehan with Splash from NTS Group with Mackay Regional Council mayor Greg Williamson. Picture: Contributed

Two furry detectives will use their sniffing superpowers to uncover the leaky culprits costing Mackay ratepayers a small fortune each year.

Mackay Regional Council has hired specially-trained English springer spaniels, Bubbles and Splash, to investigate water mains in the city, South Mackay and East Mackay.

Their work will cover about 63km of mains with Bubbles specialising in potable water leaks and his partner also able to detect wastewater leaks.

Mayor Greg Williamson said the canines from the NTS Group family had been “highly effective” and saved costs for other councils.

“Leaks can be detected without shutting down networks, digging up roads and interrupting businesses and households,” Mr Williamson said.

“A lot of the water mains in the City Centre area are ageing mains that are prone to leaks.

“Using the dogs helps us to prioritise planned upgrades.”

Troy Meehan with Splash from NTS Group. Picture: Contributed

Mr Williamson said the dogs could detect chlorine, allowing them to differentiate between surface water and underground leaks “even in heavy rain”.

“The dogs are also particularly helpful in areas where it’s difficult to send out crews – like bushland where it can be hard to access – so this may be something we will undertake also,” he said.

Bubbles and Splash follow in the paw steps of Winnie the Cocker Spaniel and Ziggy the English springer spaniel, the first dogs used in Australia to detect odours and leaks in wastewater.

The NSW Government stated Winnie and Ziggy got to work in 2020 to uncover leaks across Sydney’s 26,000km wastewater network.

While Mackay’s wastewater network only spans 966km, with water mains covering 1232km, wastage is never far from the forefront of residents’ minds.

Council documents reveal almost one in 20 customer requests lodged each month were about leaks in public areas, equating to just over five requests per day.

Troy Meehan with Bubbles from NTS Group with Mackay Regional Council mayor Greg Williamson. Picture: Contributed

The council has budgeted more than $15m towards water infrastructure in this year’s capital works program with about-two thirds assigned to renewal, another 20 per cent dedicated to new infrastructure, and 12 per cent allocated to upgrades.

The budget for water increases to $17.9m in 2024-25, before bumping up to $32.12m in 2025-26.

But while Bubbles and Splash’s two-week investigation is expected to cut costs concerning leaking water mains, the council is continuing to advocate for residents and businesses to monitor for leaks in their own backyards and properties.

The Daily Mercury revealed in the 12 months to June 2020, Mackay region residents and businesses wasted enough water to fill about 109 Olympic swimming pools or 91 Bluewater Lagoons, equating to more than 272 million litres of water.

Residents can track their water usage by signing up to the council’s free myh2o service.