A broken pipe that has leaked water down a North Wollongong street for three weeks has prompted a warning for people to report leakages quickly.
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Bob Raine, a North Wollongong resident, said he first noticed the leak outside a house in Blacket Street several weeks ago.
‘‘A few other people have commented about it,’’ Mr Raine said.
‘‘It seems odd that an obvious water leak can go on for so long.’’
A Sydney Water spokeswoman said the organisation was only notified about the leak on Sunday.
Being a regular swimmer at the Continental Pool, Mr Raine has been able to monitor the leak almost every day.
‘‘We go out each morning for a swim,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s been going on for what would have to be the last two or three weeks.
‘‘First off there was an obvious leak, the area around the front of the house was wet but it just continued on.
‘‘Now the water’s bubbling out of the front of the house and you can see it seeping into a Telecom pit.
‘‘The water’s running along the footpath virtually down to the roundabout.’’
Mr Raine said he saw a crew working on the leak yesterday but before then, the only sign that something was being done was four witches hats placed around the leak.
He added that other residents in the street had seen someone inspecting the leak last week.
The Sydney Water spokeswoman said that, while the leak may have been there for several weeks, they were only told about it on Sunday and someone had inspected the site that evening.
‘‘I don’t know that we’d had a call before then,’’ the spokeswoman said. ‘‘Our service centre didn’t have any record of that.’’
The spokeswoman said the Sunday night inspection identified that it was a Sydney Water service and that a plumber was expected to fix the leak either yesterday afternoon or today.
She added that the incident highlighted the need to call Sydney Water if someone spotted a leak, rather than expecting someone else would.
‘‘Ring yourself and report it straight away, because then we can prioritise the works and get people out to them.’’