Fix Salt Water Leaks Or Bursts Quickly: Auditor

The Audit Commission has urged the Water Supplies Department to take measures to make sure leaky salt water mains, and those that have burst, are fixed as soon as possible.

In its latest report released on Wednesday, the commission said 6,193 salt water main leaks were reported between January 2018 and March last year.

In some cases, it took up to 49 days just to turn off the pipe valve, and supply disruptions lasted up to seven days.

The commission noted that the Water Supplies Department has assessed salt water mains for their risk of bursts or leaks, and higher-risk pipes will be given priority when it comes to improvement works.

But as of March last year – around five years since the department conducted its prioritisation exercise – two of three mains of the highest risk and over one-third of other high-risk pipes still hadn't been selected for improvement works.

For mains that were selected for improvement works, contractors also took a long time to complete the task.

Of the 44 sites identified as burst "hot spots", improvement works were still ongoing for 14 of them, and works on average had already lasted about four and a half years.

The commission urged the department to ensure that improvement works of salt water mains are completed as soon as practicable, and water leaks are promptly attended to as well.

It also called on the department to explore the feasibility of using advanced technologies to monitor seawater supply systems, as measures like active leakage detection only covers fresh water pipes at present.

The Director of Water Supplies said in the report that he agrees with the audit recommendations.