Wainuiomata had consistently racked up more leaks than any other suburb since 2020. File photo. Photo: Supplied
Wainuiomata is the leakiest suburb in the Wellington region, new data from Wellington Water has revealed.
Among suburbs of each metropolitan area - Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Porirua and Wellington - Wainuiomata had consistently racked up more leaks than any other suburb since 2020.
Data released under the Local Government Official Information Act showed the most reported leaks in the Lower Hutt suburb were between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021, where there were 593.
Trentham topped the list four times for Upper Hutt, while Karori featured twice as Wellington's leakiest suburb.
See the full data sheet here:
Photo: RNZ
* Note: the last year was taken 12 months from March 2023, due to when the OIA was filed.
Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry told RNZ he believed the reason Wainuiomata was their leakiest suburb was because of its size.
"There's not a concern that there's a particular problem in Wainui(omata) versus other parts of the city."
Barry said the council understood the concern around leaks in the community.
He said it had put in additional $2.8 million in funding into Wellington Water to crackdown on leaks - which had cut more than of half of its backlog.
"So, from around 800 to 330 and that's in four months."
Barry said he was conscious that the problem was getting larger, as the water network continued to age.
He said due to its crackdown on leaks programme, the council had noticed smaller leaks were being fixed faster.
Leaks for 'months on end'
RNZ asked Wainuiomata residents about their experiences with leaks.
Chris said she had experienced an issue where the corner of Fraser and Holland Streets flooded each time it rained.
She said she had told the council about it six times, but it had not been fixed.
"I've just given up."
Susan - who has lived in the area for more than 50 years - told RNZ the leaks were just not getting fixed fast enough.
"They've been there weeks on end, even months on end before they get looked at and sorted."
She had alerted the council to leaks in the past, which took a while to be addressed.
Susan said it was not good enough.
Graham has lived in Wainuiomata since 1976 and said he had not heard leaks were a major complaint of people in the area.
He could not recall any notorious water leaks.
Wellington Water head of operations and engineering Tim Harty said the age of a pipe and where it was laid contributed to when leaks sprung up.
Harty said other factors that contributed included what materials were used for the pipe and how it was installed.
"It is really hard to put your finger on an exact cause."
Wellington Water recently announced - for the first time since October 2020 - the 12-month rolling average of water demand in the Wellington metropolitan area had declined.
It said an increased investment in leak repairs had contributed to a steady decline in water demand across Wellington, Porirua, Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt.