Wellington’s ongoing efforts to address water infrastructure woes have reached a milestone with the region’s number of leaky pipes dropping under 400 for the first time in four years.
The region has recorded just 399 leaks this month, marking a 75% reduction in the number of leaks in the past year.
Last year, Wellington City Council had 936 leaks – a figure that has now fallen to 206. Hutt City Council’s number has dropped from 403 to 92, while Upper Hutt City Council’s lowered from 275 to 61. Porirua City Council, meanwhile, has gone from 106 to 40.
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau said the decrease in leaks was a “huge relief”.
“I think water infrastructure seems like such a big problem and it is but when you start seeing those wins, it reminds you that actually prioritising them, investing the money, is the right thing to do,” she said.
“We do have over 3000 kilometres of pipes to replace, so it is going to take a long time.”
Wellington Water Board chairperson Nick Leggett said while it was a fantastic result, there was still more work to be done.
“Because all we’re doing is patching old pipes – we’re not fixing the problem,” he said.
Leggett said the region must now “look carefully” at metering and charging for water.
The mayors also acknowledged that replacing the region’s ageing pipes will be a long-term project.
“The job isn’t over – we know the bigger picture problem here is the state of the network and we still need to be renewing pipes,” Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry said.
“That is a big job, and that’s going to take time.”
