A Bethania resident says council is ignoring its own advice for people to save precious water, after burst pipes spewed water onto the road for two weeks before being fixed.
Resident Bill Breuker reported the issue to Logan City Council multiple times during the two weeks, and to his local councillor Tony Hall.
“Every time I rang council I was told the matter had been escalated,” Mr Breuker said. “And Cr Hall told me he wanted to leave it up to the workers to prioritise their work.”
Mr Breuker said the leak had poured more water onto the street than his one household would use in a year.
It came just a week after mayor Darren Power publicly urged residents to conserve water during periods of heavy rain.
“Don’t be a sap, turn of the tap,” Cr Power said.
Mr Breuker said it was clear damage had occurred further up the street from his house, and there were three separate places where water was spewing onto the street.
“I’m disgusted in the quality of service provided by Logan City Council,” he said.
“We have had a significant water leak that I estimate equivalent to two taps running full bore 24/7. This has now been ongoing for two weeks with no indication as to a fix.”
The water was fixed Thursday last week after first being reported on March 24. Mr Breuker said it took about an hour to fix.
A council spokesperson said the Ivanhoe Drive lead required “a complex investigation to ensure unnecessary excavation was not undertaken that may have impacted nearby residents”.
“The time taken in this investigation established the ruptured pipe was almost six properties away from the surface water,” council’s statement said.
“The problem was then rectified.”
Council was asked whether recent rain had caused some delays.
“Recent flooding and heavy rain impacted some operations at Logan Water but emergency maintenance callouts are always prioritised,” the council statement read.
Mr Breuker said the water leak was a hazard for pedestrians and mobility scooters using the footpath.
“At a time when residents are encouraged to save our precious water council appears to ignore its own advice,” he said.
“I fully understand the need for council to prioritise work, but two weeks for a significant water leak is ridiculous and a cost to be borne by all Logan ratepayers.”
Council’s statement said Logan Water would soon trial new leak detection technology which was expected to reduce the time needed on complex investigations.
