Lane Cove, Willoughby MPs slam Sydney Water over burst water main

A burst water main which has left thousands of households without water for four days has sparked calls for an independent inquiry and compensation scheme for those impacted.

A burst water main that has left thousands of Sydney households without running water for four days has sparked calls for an independent inquiry and compensation scheme for impacted residents and businesses.

North shore state Liberal MPs have hit out at Sydney Water over the organisation’s “lack of communication” in response to a break in a water main in Lane Cove on Saturday.

The burst piping has affected about 2000 households and businesses in 11 suburbs across the lower north shore, leaving many without any water supply or low water pressure.

It has also sent thousands of litres of drinking water gushing over Epping Rd as many residents were unable to shower, flush toilets and have resorted to buying bottled drinking water for supply.

Lane Cove MP Anthony Roberts said the lack of information from Sydney Water since Saturday has been inadequate and has turned the frustration of many residents to anger.

A photo of water gushing over Epping Rd.

“The lack of communication has been the issue, as in no communication at all,” he said.

“People understand these things occur from time to time but by not communicating it meant people weren’t able to plan or make alternatives such as staying with family because no one knew when the problem would be fixed.

Anthony Roberts said communication from Sydney Water has been inadequate.

“People started to get frustrated and because of the lack of communication that frustration has moved to anger. We’ve had a lot of calls from elderly people, people with medical conditions who we’ve had to assist with providing drinking water.

“Small businesses that have just come out of Covid have had to close. It’s been incredibly difficult and even when we started getting back water back on in some areas the biggest issue has been low water pressure, particularly in the upper levels of high rise buildings.

“I’m full of praise for the engineers that worked around the clock to sort this out but the failure to communicate has been totally inadequate.”

Mr Roberts and Willoughby MP Tim James have both called for an independent inquiry into Sydney Water’s handling of the water main burst as well as a compensation scheme for impacted residents and businesses.

Households on the north shore have been impacted since Saturday.

State Willoughby MP Tim James has called for an inquiry into the handling of the incident.

“Sydney Water has its own board but it also has core obligations and it’s up to the government to ensure those obligations are upheld,” Mr James said.

“When people do not have drinking water, every extra effort should be made to communicate proactively with people. There are real lessons to be learned here.

“Where people have been impacted, compensation is the right thing to do.”

Sydney Water, in a statement on Tuesday, said crews have now isolated and repaired the water main break.

“Due to the complexity and location of the break, crews will be working throughout the day to restore the system to normal operation. There may continue to be further interruptions to water supply across a number of suburbs.

“Customers in Lane Cove and Longueville are expected to be impacted with no or low water pressure throughout the morning. We will continue to adjust and respond as best we can until we can return the system to normal operations later today.

“We acknowledge the impact this has had on our customers. We thank you for your patience and apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

A Sydney Water spokesman said it had put in place “alternative solutions” to boost water pressure while the problem was being fixed.

It is understood work to restore the pipe has included rerouting water around the break.