Gary Hurley on managing, fixing and preventing leaks

Much of the work Sydney Water does around leaks remains hidden from sight. For many of us, a water leak is visible, often messy and sometimes even costly. And while managing and fixing leaks is an essential and ongoing task for Sydney Water – so is prevention. Here, Gary Hurley, Civil Delivery Manager at Sydney Water, fills in the gaps in our knowledge with some know how.

How does Sydney Water manage leaks?
To answer that question, first we have to get a bigger picture of the issue. We look after about 21,000 km of pipes in and around Sydney. That’s about the same distance as Sydney to Los Angeles and back again. So it’s a big network. Leaks, when they happen can be quite catastrophic when it’s a burst water main. But leaks can also be small, slow drips from buried pipes. Either way, they waste water and we treat them all seriously, assessing and prioritising.

What do you mean by prioritising?
Sydney Water has achieved the best international rating for leak reduction by targeting our prevention programs on pipes which are more likely to leak.

Why do leaks actually happen?
There’s no single cause. Some are caused by excessive water pressure, others by movements in the earth due to drought or major construction work, for example. As well as those leaks we might see many others from literally millions of joints that connect of the thousands of kilometres of piping below the ground.

How do we actually find leaks?
Some leaks are obviously visible to the naked eye and aren’t hard to spot. However, underground leaks are nearly impossible to see – so we have to ‘listen’ for leaks with acoustic technology. Our specially trained teams use these devices to listen deep underground and identify the source of the leak. Our repair crews then follow up and repair the leak in the following days.

Can’t you prevent all leaks from happening?
It would cost many billions of dollars. While we can never predict leaks, we can identify them through constant ongoing maintenance, inspections and vigilance. Sydney Water actively searches for leaks all year round and has dedicated teams on stand by 365 days a year to fix any leaks that are found. Our approach to reducing leaks includes fixing reported leaks promptly, actively searching for hidden leaks, replacing poorly performing water pipes, proactively lowering excessively high  water pressure and measuring our performance to ensure our strategies are working.

How much water do you save by repairing leaks?
Our Leak Reduction Program saves about 30 billion litres every year. That’s enough to supply about 150,000 households. Closer to home, you can do your bit too – by checking all taps for leaks and constant drips. A dripping tap alone can waste over 24,000 litres of water a year – it’s literally money down the drain.

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Category: Expert Opinion, Managing leaks