Pinhole water leaks increase

Pinhole leaks increasingly appearing in piping in Peninsula homes are not related to minerals in the water supply, according to Gosford Council Water and Sewerage Directorate Manager of Operations Mr Steve Martin.

Concern had been raised that a drop in dam levels and air scouring on the Peninsula had caused an increase in the occurrence of pin hole leaks.

Mr Martin attributed the cause of the leaks to the previous widespread use of low-grade copper pipes.

"Gosford Council can confirm there has been no change to the chemical make-up of its water supply for many years," Mr Martin said.

"The water treatment plant at Somersby has been producing consistently high quality water for many years.

"One of the challenges facing the Central Coast is the previous widespread use of low grade copper pipes in many of the homes in the area.

"All copper pipes break down over time but the lower grade copper ones have been known to deteriorate in 20 years or less.

"As a result we're currently seeing an increase in problems in houses of a certain age on the Central Coast.

"This is further exacerbated by the fact that many homes on the Central Coast were originally built as holiday homes and therefore sometimes had lower budgets available to them compared to when people were building their family home.

"If the problem with copper pipes was due to the water supply system, then it would be logical to assume that these problems would be experienced by all water users and properties connected to the town water supply on the Central Coast.

"When called out to investigate problems such as you have described, we can confirm that virtually all of these instances are due to the use of low grade copper pipes which have deteriorated."

Press release, October 13 Janet Saunders, Gosford Council