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Inside Perth’s under-siege wastewater network after two massive bursts

Perth’s ageing network of sewer pipes isn’t buckling under pressure despite two major bursts that swamped suburbs in human excrement, the Water Corporation insists. Answering questions in State Parliament 10 days ago, the corporation’s chief executive Pat Donovan described last month’s ‘poo-nami’ in Spearwood as a “unique” event. But just hours later another torrent of sewage spewed into the Upper Swan River. The wastewater main burst at Caversham on July 3 was the second significant incident in under a month. Thousands of residents, forced to put up with a putrid stench for weeks after the Spearwood eruption, are still waiting for answers on what caused the failure. Now, after the second significant spill, the public is wondering if it was just an unlucky coincidence, or a sign of deeper decay in Perth’s ageing pipe network — with more strife to come just around the u-bend. The Water Corporation claims the incidents were unrelated and “not indicative of wider network issues”. It said said an investigation was progressing to determine why the infrastructure failed. “We sincerely apologise to the respective communities for these unfortunate but unrelated incidents,” a spokesperson told The Sunday Times. “To learn from what happened and help prevent future occurrences, we are conducting an engineering analysis of the failed sections of pipe to identify the root causes. “In these cases, we are also engaging third-party testing, and it can take a few weeks for the report to be finalised. Both the Spearwood and Caversham pipes were well within their expected 80-plus-year lifespan but our investigations assess all potential contributory factors. “However, the bursts were isolated incidents, occurring on different parts of the wastewater network, and are not indicative of wider network issues. While bursts like this are usually rare, the timing is unfortunate.” Contrary to speculation, fatbergs were unlikely to have played a part in the events, unlike the sewer blockage that forced the cancellation of Bryan Adams’ Perth Arena show in February. “We don’t, at this stage, believe it was due to a blockage,” the spokesperson added. “The issue occurred on a large main where wastewater is pumped under pressure. Blockages (which can include fatbergs) are more common to smaller pipes not under pressure.” Last weekend, Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti said it was “unacceptable” that human waste had spilled into the Swan River twice in a matter of weeks. However, Premier Roger Cook acknowledged four days after the foul flood at Spearwood that Perth had a complex and “ageing pipe network” and he couldn’t rule out more ruptures and discharges. Last year’s State Budget revealed that 17.5 per cent of the Water Corporation’s $44 billion of assets will be near the end of their economic lives in the next decade. Some parts of the network are more than 120 years old. These include sections of original locking-bar steel pipe on the Goldfields Pipeline. “While we do have older sections of pipe, the condition of the pipe rather than its age is a more reliable indicator of potential issues,” the Water Corporation’s spokesperson said. “Newer pipe can fail prematurely in adverse environmental conditions and older pipe can continue to operate reliably for decades with an appropriate inspection regime. “We maintain more than 34,000km of water mains and more than 17,700km of wastewater mains across 2.5 million square kms of WA – one of the largest networks of its kind in the world. “It is a time-consuming, year-round job to keep the pipe network operating safely and reliably and there are obvious challenges detecting leaks or structural issues on such a vast network of mostly underground pipes. Every water utility in the world experiences similar network issues. “We have an ongoing inspection program and use technology to assist, including robotic CCTV cameras and a large fibre-optic network in the Perth CBD to ‘listen’ for leaks.” The corporation spent $30.25 million on maintaining Perth’s wastewater network in the last financial year, $1.2m less than it spent in the previous year, but almost $10m more than it spent five years ago. “Maintenance investment on water and wastewater networks will be bolstered this financial year through a $35m uplift allocated under the 2025-26 State Budget,” the spokesperson said. “We expect to spend around $100m on water and wastewater renewals in Perth this financial year. This is one of our largest ever annual spends on renewals in the metro area and is supported by an $80m uplift over two years allocated under the 2024-25 State Budget.” Shadow Minister for Water Peter Rundle has called for a “full audit of the State’s wastewater infrastructure to prevent further environmental disasters”. “It’s completely unacceptable that raw sewage has made its way into the Swan River yet again,” he said. “The Cook Labor Government and Water Corporation must provide answers.” The clean-up job from the Spearwood main burst on June 6 is still continuing. What started as a pipe burst on Hamilton Road, flooding front yards and into two homes, escalated the next morning when efforts to pump the sewage away from the area resulted in another rupture at Beaconsfield, which inundated local parks and residential areas. Wastewater also gushed into Alfred Cove, Applecross, South Fremantle, the Fremantle Harbour and parts of the Swan River. They quickly went from being affluent suburbs to effluent ones. The pipe repair took four days to repair, causing significant disruption to locals. Some residents chose to stay with family and friends in other suburbs to escape the putrid smell. Turf is being replaced at Bruce Lee Reserve in Beaconsfield and Kitj Park, Spearwood, which underwent other restoration work and decontamination. Sports should be able to return to Bruce Lee Reserve after July 21. Repairs to a section of wastewater pipe at the corner of Caesar Street and Grosvenor Road, Beaconsfield, is expected to take until August 8. Minister for Water Don Punch said the Cook Government was spending vast sums on the pipe network, but he couldn’t rule out future incidents. “No amount of investment can guarantee against faults, especially on such an expansive, buried network as we have in WA,” he said on Friday. “And there was no recent history of previous issues on those sections of the main that may have forewarned of those incidents.” The Minister said an additional $35m was allocated in last month’s State Budget to help maintain both water and wastewater networks. “This is in addition to nearly $80m extra over two years allocated under the FY2023-24 State Budget for network renewals. “This funding supports a five-year program of work currently underway to replace or renew aging water and wastewater infrastructure across Perth, with $39.5m to be spent relining wastewater pipes and $40.4m to replace aging water mains. “From 2014 to 2024, Water Corporation spent over $270m to renew wastewater network infrastructure in the metro area. This financial year alone, that spend is expected to total around $100m (water and wastewater) — one of the largest ever annual investments in the reliability of our growing water and wastewater networks. “To help identify potential faults and prioritise renewals, Water Corporation will spend around $42m over the next five years on asset condition inspections.” Some residents and businesses in the southern suburbs will be compensated for financial losses. “In addition to our comprehensive restoration program across the affected areas, we have proactively supported all customers directly affected by the Spearwood incident and had customer support teams on the ground,” the Water Corporation spokesperson said. “As standard, this includes engaging third-party loss adjustors, where required, to ensure a fair outcome. “In Beaconsfield, in partnership with the City of Fremantle, we provided and funded temporary lighting to allow the sporting clubs use of an alternative oval, enabling them to continue their playing seasons unaffected. We also proactively supported the Freo Farmers Market before it returns to Bruce Lee Reserve.” Remo Viti, who owns Remo’s Quality Meats in Coogee Plaza, Hamilton Road, said he lost about 20 customers a day for three weeks. He had not applied for compensation yet, but was likely to do so. “They asked me if I wanted to get vouchers to give out the people in the local area to spend up $2000 in the shop. I said no, but (other businesses) took it up.” Instead his bookkeeper was going to calculate the losses, comparing takings with those in the six weeks before and the after. The manager at the neighbouring Coogee Continental Deli said the Water Corporation had kept them fully informed. “They set up a sign just before the road block, saying that our complex of shops was still open and business as per usual. So I think it helped a lot,” she said.

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Inside Perth’s under-siege wastewater network after two massive bursts

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Inside Perth’s under-siege wastewater network after two massive bursts