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“Significant progress:” 9126 leaks fixed last year
News from Wellington Water
Our 2024 leaks-fixed figure just came in – our dedicated crews fixed 9,126 leaks on the public network across the region last year.
Repairing this many leaks over the year is important mahi to ensuring a more reliable water supply for the region. Thanks to the crews who put in the hard work and additional funding from our council owners, significant progress was made.
The backlog for the Wellington metropolitan region is only 74 leak fixes away from our target backlog. This keeps water loss to a minimum while allowing for efficient repairs.
Our crews continue to find and fix leaks round the clock to get leaks down to a sustainable level. If you spot a leak, let your council know so our crews can get onto it.
Check our progress with fixing leaks.
Don’t you just love the phrase “only 74 leak fixes away from our target backlog”. It needs a bit more definition. What is the target backlog ?
Well done and thank you. Hopefully this will bring Wellington Water to a point where they can stop running to stand still, and get on with the desperately-needed but never-ending cycle of preventative maintenance.
I suppose this is some sort of positive news, but the statement says nothing about why the average cost of fixing leaks has doubled since 2021, why the 3-year management fee operating costs have tripled since 2021, or what progress has been made to address the key FieldForce4 review finding, which was that there is a lack of contractually-clear accountability and performance measures, meaning that Wellington City Council has effectively given Wellington Water Limited an open cheque book without the ability to manage the quality and efficiency of the services delivered.
My neighbour’s Toby leak was fixed before Christmas. Now it’s leaking again. My question is how many of those leaks fixed have leaked again?
There is a leak that has sprung up on my street. It is so common that it barely registers as an event.
Yup same here. Our street got fixed, one week later after asphalt was laid – it was leaking again.
Well done to the front line staff for the hard work maintaining infrastructure way past its asset life.
There is a geyser in Ohiro Road. The pipes need replacing. Repairs will be like a plaster that does not hold.
Proper planning is needed – not this uneducated fixer-upper mentality.
Getting the Wellington region leaks backlog from 1,720 to 399 leaks in 12 months is no small feat. It’s a massive effort to reduce the backlog by over 75% while also tackling new leaks that were being reported every day.
A huge thank you to our council owners Wellington City Council, Hutt City Council, Upper Hutt City Council, and Porirua City Council for the additional investment that allowed us to tackle the backlog. With the leaks backlog close to a sustainable level, we’ll be focused on keeping leaks down and working with councils to increase pipe renewals to stop leaks happening in the first place. [via Facebook]