Our water starts in the forested interior. The condition of that land decides the quality of the water reaching our intakes: clearing, burning and farming close to a watercourse all put more soil and more contamination into the river, which means harder treatment downstream and more of it.
Crews survey the network section by section using listening equipment to find leaks underground, before they show up in the road.
When supply is short, we manage flow across the network by adjusting valves so that water reaches the areas that would otherwise go without. It's why pressure varies through the day in some areas, and why a scheduled interruption in one district keeps another one supplied.
Rainfall patterns have shifted and evaporation rates have risen. Both mean less water reaching the rivers from the same amount of rain, and both are why storage and new sources are now a permanent part of our planning rather than a response to a bad year.
New sources, new storage and replacement mains are how the supply keeps pace with demand. Current work is listed on our projects page.
