Cause of burst water pipe which flooded elderly Yarraman woman's home revealed by Toowoomba Council

Toowoomba Regional Council have revealed what caused a high pressure water pipe to burst in a rural town – flooding an elderly woman's home.

A South Burnett resident was left in a soggy situation for more than two hours while emergency water workers travelled more than 80 km to help.

Toowoomba council workers were tasked to Yarraman on Thursday, travelling 80km to the outskirts of the region’s district to turn off a busted water pipe.

Toowoomba Regional Council has confirmed workers travelled from Goombungee to Yarraman after an elderly woman’s home was flooded by a burst water main.

After waking Thursday to find a damaged pipe spurting water 12 feet into the air on George street, Yarraman, resident Cynthia Holzberger said she waited hours for council workers to turn off the water as it seeped into her home.

“It‘s seeped in underneath the wall and came into the kitchen and into our dining area,” Ms Holzberger said.

“I got out at seven o‘clock this morning, our yard wasn’t a swimming pool at that stage, but it took them two and a half hours to get here and turn it off.

“Why haven’t we got someone here in Yarraman that can turn water off if there’s a problem. They came from Goombungee to do it.”

TRC’s Water & Wastewater Committee Chair Cr Rebecca Vonhoff responded to questions from the South Burnett Times, confirming workers had to make the journey from Goombungee.

“Toowoomba Regional Council was made aware of a burst water pipe on George Street, Yarraman, at around 7.15am on Thursday,” Cr Vonhoff said.

“The pipe was located in a fenced off area where works to install a fire hydrant were scheduled to take place next week.”

A Yarraman woman‘s home has been water damaged after cold weather caused an exposed water main to burst, sending water spurting ’12 feet into the air’. Photo/Cynthia Holzberger

The councillor also revealed the recent cold weather was likely the cause of the incident.

“The pipe is located in a high pressure water zone and due to low temperatures overnight on Wednesday and early Thursday morning the pipe cracked, resulting in a significant water leak,” she said.

“Council is committed to minimising impacts and disruption to residents as much as possible when undertaking works. Once we were made aware of the water leak, members of Council’s Water and Waste Services team were dispatched from Goombungee to Yarraman within 30 minutes.

“Council’s crew was able to turn off the water supply by 9am and repairs to the pipe were completed by 11am.”

Ms Holzberger was unsure of just how much damage the water had done when she spoke to the South Burnett Times.

“How much it will cost I don‘t know, because it‘s basically gone into the kitchen, under these cupboards, and a little bit into the dining room,” Ms Holzberger said.

“It‘s just worrying, I suppose. Because then you’ve got to worry about insurance claims and things like that.”

Cr Vonhoff said the council was working with Ms Holzberger.

“We appreciate the distress this has caused and are working closely with the resident who was impacted by the water leak to resolve the matter as soon as possible,” she said.