Losing water

Specialised sound- testing equipment will be brought in to “listen” to pipes in the Tweed Heads area to detect any water leakage this month, the Tweed Daily News reports.  Tweed Shire Council has called in contractors to pinpoint any significant leaks as part of a plan to fix damaged pipes in the area.  According to the council, 11.5 per cent of all water produced every year on the Tweed “disappears”.  This equates to approximately 900 mega litres per year out of a total of 8700 mega litres.

Council’s water manager Anthony Burnham said water loss figures could be better.  “While that figure of 11.5 per cent is comparable to water loss in other local government areas, it certainly falls short of the target of seven per cent we are aiming for,” Mr Burnham said.  He explained that not all water leakage was due to leaks in the pipes.  “Other possible causes are uses such as firefighting and water theft,” he said.  “We have always checked for leaks, how-ever this is part of an intensified suite of strategic actions to ensure we have good integrated water cycle management in the Tweed.”