Around 15 million litres of water escaped after a major water main burst at Hurstville on Tuesday.
Sydney Water said the recent break was in the most severe category of water main breaks with repairs not expected to be completed until next week.
The broken pipe is the Woronora Pipeline which is 1200 mm wide and travels between Woronora Dam and Penshurst.
No cause for the breakage has been given but nearby residents reported a leak in the days before the main burst.
Myanna Wedes and her father Patrick were among the first at the scene and they door knocked Denman Street residents to warn them about the burst main.
She said she called Sydney Water to advise them of the issue but the person on the phone said they were two hours away.
She said it was only after she described how bad the burst was that they realised how bad the situation was.
A Sydney Water spokeswoman said the first responder was on site within 10 minutes.
‘’As soon as we were aware of the impacts of the break, we called in extra crews who assisted the first responder to shut down valves in the network to isolate supply and reduce the flow of water,’’ she said.
‘’All this happened almost immediately, but due to the size of the main (1200 mm in diameter) and the complex nature of the shutdown, it took several hours for water to drain away from the road.’’
She said this type of break was extremely rare which is why repairs would take longer than normal.
‘’This is one of our biggest water mains at 1200mm in diameter, and it is made of steel – this means that the repairs are, by their nature, complex,’’ SHE SAID.
‘’The faulty section of pipe will be removed within the next 24-hours, and we’ll then inspect the adjacent section of pipe to ensure it is sound condition.
‘’If we do find the pipe is faulty in any other areas, we may need to repair it using different techniques, or replace a larger section of the pipe.
‘’All going well, we hope to have the main repaired and back in service early next week.’’
She said it was too early to tell the cost of repairs.
Was your home flooded? Email kahlia.beichert@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
