Water main renewals continue in Adelaide’s CBD

Starting next week, SA Water will replace a 66 metre section of water main under Arthur Street in Adelaide, to reduce the impact of water main breaks on local customers and commuters.

Around 600 metres of water pipe have been renewed since 2016 under the streets of Adelaide’s CBD, and a further 1500 metres will be replaced next financial year.

The staged approach aims to minimise construction impacts on residents, businesses and road users in the city centre.

The upgrade is part of an ongoing program that will see $137 million invested to replace around 375,000 metres of water mains across South Australia between 2016 and 2020.

SA Water's General Manager of Asset Operations and Delivery Mark Gobbie said the section of pipe on Arthur Street was prioritised for replacement after recent breaks and leaks.

“We can't completely stop breaks and leaks from happening, because they’re often triggered by weather or soil movements, but we're fully committed to reducing their incidence and impact on our customers,” Mark said.

“The new pipes will be made of PVC, which is flexible and more resistant to the movement caused by the area’s reactive clay soils compared to the existing, rigid cast iron and fibro-cement pipes.”

Both PVC and non-PVC water mains have an expected lifespan of 100 years. More than half of SA Water’s 27,000 kilometre network of pipes are under 50 years old, which is relatively young by urban water industry standards.

Work to install the new water main will typically occur during the day between 7 am and 7 pm, Monday to Saturday, and take around three weeks to complete.  

“Please be alert to changed traffic conditions in the area, which will be in place for the safety of road users, pedestrians and our workers,” Mark said.

“We’ve been working closely with local businesses to minimise any construction impacts and we’ll also be providing local residents with advance notice of planned times for the temporary water supply outages required when we cut over the old and new pipes.”

For more information on when and where water mains are being renewed across the state, as well as details on existing pipes, take a look at the interactive map available at sawater.com.au.

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For further information contact SA Water’s media team on 08 7424 2477

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