Joe Grima points to the leak under Clapham Avenue last week that was fixed five days later by South East Water.
By Shaun Inguanzo
A SPRINGVALE resident believes South East Water failed to practice its water-saving wisdom when the company took five days to fix a corroded pipe that was leaking water under a residential road.
Clapham Avenue resident Joe Grima, 72, said he noticed water leaking through the road’s surface on Wednesday, 26 April and decided to phone South East Water to have it immediately fixed.
But 24 hours later, the water was still running.
“The Government has been barking its head off to save water and saying don’t do this and that, and yet when you report something like this and expect it to be fixed straight away, they do nothing,” he said.
“I don’t think South East Water is practising what it is preaching.”
But a South East Water spokesman said the leak was classed as minor and had been inspected within 24 hours of Mr Grima’s phonecall.
“Initially, field technicians were unable to find the specific location of the leak,” he said.
“A subsequent visit by our specialist leak detection unit pinpointed the precise location of the leak and we decided that the leak was best repaired at night to avoid disruptions to traffic on Springvale Road.”
Crews then repaired the corroded pipe last Monday night.
But Mr Grima said the wait was still unacceptable.
“It is a bad example for the residents because people are always cautious about water and all this, yet something like this, (the company) lets it run.”
