WEST Swan residents Geoff and Marian Ashworth are calling on Water Corporation to provide a long-term fix to a water main leakage issue that has been recurring since 1998.

Last week, Mr and Mrs Ashworth experienced the 13th leak at their Pow Street residence as the water main in front of their home burst and spewed out thousands of litres of water.

“I don’t understand why Water Corp can’t just replace the whole stretch of old pipe with PVC piping,” Mr Ashworth said.

“That’s what they’ve done so far, they’ve put clamps on the leaking bits, and they’ve replaced the burst sections with PVC piping.

“The old piping is cast-iron which shrinks from the cold and expands when it’s hot, and it doesn’t have the flex to withstand the changes and then leaks happen every two years or so.

“It must cost them a small fortune to send contractors down every time there’s a leak, and they’ve had to replace the bitumen and the kerbing too and that can’t have been cheap.

“I’m interested in knowing just how much it’s cost them to attend the property over and over since 1998.”

In 2011, then Swan Valley Progress Association secretary Rod Henderson wrote to then Water Minister Bill Marmion on behalf of the Ashworths.

Mr Marmion said the Water Corporation confirmed the water main on Pow Street needed replacement, and a replacement was planned for 2013-2014.

Mr Henderson, who is now the City of Swan’s Swan Valley Gidgegannup councillor attended the leak last week and said it was an issue that no action had been taken.

“It was like a river of water pouring down the street into the gutter,” he said.

“Again, we see the water main on Pow Street, West Swan spewing out thousands of litres of water.

“The biggest issue about the story is that the area had been identified for pipe main replacement.

“Because it’s a relatively small number of people living there and a fairly long main run, they just go out and patch it up.

“It’s basically costing the state a lot of money because they’ve patched it up so many times, they probably spent enough to just replace the entire main.

“The whole thing’s been a debacle if you look at the number of times it’s been patched up.

“It’s a band aid thing - they’re not allocating the money it needs to truly be fixed.

“Apart from raising it as a significant issue in the local area there’s not much more that we can do than to say, ‘Why don’t you get on and fix the main properly?”

“Money’s been drawn out of every department in the government to fund other projects like trainlines and the like, then issues like this go unaddressed.”

Mrs Ashworth said she was disappointed to still be waiting for a fix eight years after she was told Water Corporation confirmed the pipe was identified for replacement.

“I feel sorry for the contractors who have had to come out time and time again,” she said.

“There’s a power pole on our lawn that’s on an angle and we were worried it would fall over with the burst so close to it.

“Western Power wouldn’t come out to move or adjust their pole and when the contractors came, they had to tunnel around it.

“They were completely covered in mud from how deep they had to dig and I just remember looking at the work and feeling sorry for them.”

A Water Corporation spokesperson said they worked hard to avoid supply interruptions through proactive and preventative maintenance but leaks and bursts were a reality faced by all water utilities and cannot be prevented entirely.

“Infrastructure renewals are prioritised according to many factors, including asset age, performance history, and environmental conditions,” they said.

“The main, which was installed in 1973 and is well within its 70-year asset lifespan, has not been subject to acute or recurrent issues since the completion of work in 2011.

“In the intervening 14 years, six leaks have occurred resulting in a short-term supply interruption to nearby homes on Pow Street.

“In the seven years since mid-2018, there have been two supply interruptions linked to Water Corporation’s main.

“It is not currently marked for replacement, which would cost an estimated $220,000.

“We continue to actively monitor the main’s condition and performance should there be any change requiring reprioritisation.

“We wish to apologise to residents affected by a leak on Tuesday, September 2 which temporarily interrupted water supply.”

Mr Ashworth said he had hoped the Water Corporation would reveal accumulated costs of previous works to fix leaks in Pow St since 2011.

“The true fact is that the leaks and bursts (we've experienced) in Pow St haven’t been reduced because of the works done in Victoria Rd in 2011,” he said.

*A previous edition did not include the number of leaks since 2011 from Water Corporation's records and Mr Ashworth's anecdotal account.