Sibanengi Dube
A continuous leaking water pipe in Sunshine’s Monash Street is drawing rage from residents who are getting irritated by Greater Western Water’s slow pace in fixing it.
A resident Trevor Cunningham revealed that the water pipe has been leaking for weeks adding that he did not receive any joy after alerting the responsible water authorities.
“I have attempted to have Greater Western Water repair a water leak in Monash Street, Sunshine opposite Our Lady’s Church,” Mr Cunningham said.
He added that similar efforts stretching for weeks by other residents drew blanks
“The repairs were previously scheduled for an overnight repair but this was not done and there is now no date for the job. So whilst the job had priority that has now disappeared. Enormous volumes of water are being lost every day,” Mr Cunningham said.
Greater Western Water told Mr Cunningham that no other date were scheduled to repair the pipe.
“I can see that we have had to delay previously scheduled repairs, however there is currently no new date for the repairs to take place,” said the water authority in an email message to MR Cunningham..
Children crossing the street to a nearby school were being inconvenienced by a thin sheet of water forming along Monash Street.
A Greater Western Water spokesperson told Star Weekly the leak was being repaired.
“The water leak on Monash Street, Sunshine is currently being repaired. Crews are on site with the expected repair to take between three and five hours. We understand the leak has caused some concern for residents and apologise for the delay,” the spokesperson said.
Responding to complaints of the delays in fixing the pipe, the water authority said all water faults were prioritised according to impacts to the community, customer safety and severity of the fault.
“This ensures we are prioritising work with the biggest impact on service and safety.”
The process of pinpointing the exact leaking point by the leak detection specialist consumed time which further delayed the fixing of the pipe. The water authority maintained that the process had to be completed before the actual fixing commences to minimise disruption and safety impacts to community.
The maintenance contractors had to secure approvals first from the water industry service standards as set by the Essential Services Commission (ESC).
