Wellington is a little less leaky

Monday, 15 July 2024

Finally, some progress on reducing water leaks.

For the first time since October 2020, the 12-month rolling average for water demand in the Wellington metropolitan region has fallen.

In plain English, that means we are losing less water from leaks, as the number of leaks across the region significantly reduces.

In October 2023, The Post reported Wellington was leaking like a sieve, with the equivalent of 30 Olympic pools of water being lost daily through decrepit pipes.

Wellington Water chief executive Tonia Haskell said it was a major milestone and residents should all be pleased.

Increased investment in leak repairs by councils had enabled the backlog of leaks to decrease from 3369 in January 2024, to 1601 at the beginning of July.

It contributed to a steady decline in water demand across the region, Haskell said.

“This is a great result and it has come from a real team effort by councils, Wellington Water, and residents.

“[It] shows the impact that our council’s investment in leak repairs can have in reducing the risk to the region’s water supply, and, looking further back, the hard work of residents to conserve water over the summer.”

To reduce the risk of water shortages and tighter water restrictions, Wellington Water is continuing work to reduce water demand by 7.4 million litres a day by February 2025.

Reducing demand would be achieved by improved leak detection and repair, increasing pipe renewals, and engaging with the community to promote water conservation, Haskell said.

She hoped that would be enough to significantly reduce the risk of Wellington running out of water over summer.

Although pleased with progress, Haskell said there was still a lot of work to be done.

“We encourage all residents and businesses to continue their good water use habits, report leaks to their councils and to follow our progress on our website and social media channels.”

On Monday, Wellington Water reported it had fixed 221 leaks the previous week.