Wellington’s $30b headache –how do we fix the leaks?
Wednesday, 7 February 2024
We want to hear about your leaks. Last year we ran the Leak of the Week series, highlighting some of the region’s worst geysers, dribbly tobies and stuffed pipes.
With water restrictions on the horizon amid disputes over delivery versus funding of water services, our new live blog will focus on the magnitude of the problem facing local body politicians.
Send us your story – specifically video and photos pictures – to news@thepost.co.nz.
There are more than 3200 leaks across the region and that number continues to grow. The leaks are occurring against a backdrop of Wellingtonians being asked to conserve water over summer, as the region runs dry.
Wellington is at Level 2 water restriction, with a ban on sprinklers and irrigation systems, and there is a 60% chance of moving to Level 3 this summer, Wellington Water said in an update on Wednesday. There was also a 23% chance of Level 4 restrictions this summer. Demand had held steady, increasing the buffer to 17%, but forecast above average temperatures were behind the likelihood of tighter restrictions ahead.
Wellington is losing the equivalent of 30 Olympics sized swimming pools a day, due to leaks. The estimated cost of bringing our three waters infrastructure up to scratch is $30b over 30 years.
The body responsible for fixing the leaks, Wellington Water, has recently come under increased scrutiny, with Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy being outspoken in his criticism.
Upper Hutt had 269km of pipes needing to be replaced over the next 30 years, which works out at 8.99km a year. In 2022/23 it replaced 1.65km. The city is losing 52 per cent of its drinking water.
Wellington City has also been reluctant to accept advice given to it by Wellington Water and commissioned a report to look at the state of the organisation.
It highlighted a number of failures in the beleaguered water utility, including duplicated jobs and soaring costs.
On Saturday, The Post ran an opinion piece by Dave Armstrong, questioning the competence of the Wellington agency.
“There is no doubt that the biggest single water issue in Wellington at present is fixing the leaks. But second on my list would be fixing Wellington Water,” he wrote.
Over the past few months, The Post has highlighted some of the worst leaks, including a decade old leak in Upper Hutt on Rose Vailima’s berm
She’s lost count of the number of times she’s reported it. “My old neighbour shifted from here ten years ago and it (the leak) had been going well before that.”
In January, there was the story about two new leaks that had sprung up in Newlands.
Resident Jaymie Subecz said that it started with a bang.
“Honestly, it exploded one day. I came out with my son and there was a black thing just in front of the bus stop. At first I thought someone left their wallet but when I got there it was just bits of road.”
Newlands resident Shantanu Chandra said the response times for repairing leaks was too slow.
“I’ve reported these leaks three or four times since before December but they keep telling me I’m still in the queue.
“We’re wasting so much water every day and now we have these restrictions coming in. It just seems like it’s going to get worse.”
The Post is increasingly hearing from frustrated residents like Jane Bambery who reported a leaky toby last October.
“I also have had a leak at the front of my property, it was fixed, but is back now, I think due to the long term leaking it has killed all the plants / trees in my front yard, because their roots have been wet for so long.”
James Baty had a similar story.
“We have a leak at our place in Korokoro, first reported three months ago, and we are still waiting for it to be repaired. It’s a lot worse now than it was, water is gushing out and tracking down our pathway making steps slippery and probably causing underground damage. I’ve lodged about three or four requests with the council so far.”
Wellington Water prioritises leaks on the basis of how much water is being lost and the risk to property.
It seems a logical response but a leak, highlighted last week, shows the system does not always work.
The substantial leak in Hataitai turned the gutter into a small stream. It was also spewing on to Brent and Odette Coates’ section.
As well as making their steep path slippery, it was also undermining a retaining wall. The homeowner had to put gumboots on to go out to the garden.
Recent social media posts by Wellington Water include a boast that it had fixed 135 leaks over the previous week.
“This week, we're in Boulcott, Lower Hutt. We received an alert of this massive geyser early in the morning - our crews managed to get the leak under control and fixed within a couple of hours.”