Leakage and Pressure Management

Each year, a proportion of our treated water is lost through leaks in the water distribution systems. Leakage management and pressure reduction programs can help to reduce the volume of water lost due to leaks.

No water supply system is absolutely water tight and it is expected that there would be a certain amount of leakage in any system, with 12% being an acceptable level of leakage.

The age and condition of mains infrastructure, as well as pressure in the system, are the main contributing factors that cause leaks.

Some of our water supply systems are leakier than others and some are losing water at an increasing rate each year.

Pressure management or pressure reduction can be used to lower high pressures in a water distribution system to a level which is still sufficient to deliver water to people’s homes, but is not so high so as to cause excessive and unnecessary leaks. Replacing aging pipes can also help to reduce leaks.

Over the past few years, leakage from the Gloucester system has increased from 10% to 13%. Leakage in the Manning system is at approximately 11% and has been increasing over the past decade. The Bulahdelah system is the best performer of the five supply schemes with leakage of approximately 3%. Over the past decade, the average leakage rate of the Stroud system is 9%. Leakage in the Tea Gardens system has declined over the past few years with pressure reduction. Ten years ago, leakage was approximately 14% and it is now 8.3% after the introduction of a pressure reduction valve.

Target

We will aim to reduce leakage to less than 10% of total water supplied for the Gloucester and Manning water supply schemes by 2045