The Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) is ramping up its war on wasted water, rolling out the second phase of its successful Regional Leakage Reduction Program to save billions of litres of the State’s most precious resource.
Welcoming the Program’s second stage, the Minister for Lands and Water, Kevin Anderson said the first stage involved leak detection work across 22 Local Government Areas (LGAs), with experts locating a “staggering” 2.7 billion litres of water leaking from network pipes each year.
“Using cutting-edge technology such as high-powered listening devices, our teams pinpoint exactly where leaks are in pipes, meters and valves so they can be patched up to significantly boost water security for regional communities,” Mr Anderson said.
“Fixing leaky pipes and damaged infrastructure not only preserves water and improves reliability, but it also saves ratepayers hundreds of thousands of dollars every year in pumping and treatment costs.”
He said that during Stage 1, officers and technicians from the Program surveyed more than 2,700 km of water mains and found more than 930 leaks.
Mr Anderson said a lot of these leaks had already been repaired, preventing more than 800 million litres of water from being lost each year.
He said DPE was working with local water utilities to survey a further 4,500km of pipeline before June 2023 and a similar amount the following year, with the aim of saving up to 7.5billion litres of water by the end of 2024.
“Just because we’ve had rain, it doesn’t mean we can relax when it comes to water security,” the Minister said.
“Drought will come again, and the recent flooding has put many storage areas at risk of contamination,” he said.
“Every drop of clean water counts and that’s why the State Government has thrown its support behind this vital project.”
Mr Anderson said Clarence Valley Council, Mid-Western Regional Council, Narromine Shire Council and Tweed Shire Council as well as two Aboriginal communities had signed up for Stage 2 of the Program and another 20 LGAs were expected to join.
