East Gippsland Water is undertaking high-profile repairs on a water main at Swan Reach.
The water main, near the corner of Princes Highway and Metung Road, passes under the Tambo River and supplies drinking water to Swan Reach, Lakes Entrance, Lake Tyers Beach, and Nowa Nowa.
General manager service delivery Hamish Reid said while it will be a challenging repair, water supplies are not expected to be impacted.
“Investigations identified that the leak is occurring in the section of pipe that runs under the Tambo River. This is a complex repair job that will take a couple of weeks to fix. Residents and passers-by will notice work sites on both sides of the river; maintaining the integrity of the riverbank is a key consideration for crews working in the area,” Mr Reid said.
“During the works the carpark near the intersection of Tambo Upper Road and Metung Road will be closed. We have also liaised with the schools that use the area as a bus stop.
“To repair the pipe, we will be using a slip lining method. This involves pulling a new pipe of a slightly smaller diameter through the existing pipe. This technique is used for repairing leaks or restoring a pipe’s structural stability.”
Valves on both banks of the river allow East Gippsland Water to shut off the water supply to undertake works. While this water main is closed off, customers will receive treated water from the corporation’s water storage in Lakes Entrance.
“We’d like to assure the community we will reinstate the work sites. To make the area safe, we have filled the holes we dug during our investigation and more work will be undertaken when the project is complete,” Mr Reid said.
The leak was found after a member of the public reported pooling water in the area near the pipeline.
“We have systems on our network to alert us about major leaks; however, small leaks don’t set off the trigger. We thank the community member for letting us know something didn’t look right and needed an inspection,” Mr Reid said.
