Community Leak Program saves 1 billion litres of water

April 2018

In 2017 Living Water Smart introduced an innovative and successful Community Leak Program in partnership with local stakeholders to provide community wide leak checking, leak awareness campaigns and a $200 Leak Find and Fix rebate. 

The Program was initiated after the results were collected from 700 residential and 50 commercial and government water audits which showed that approximately 15% of Darwin’s water use is wasted through leaks.  Living Water Smart sprang into action to specifically target this water waste in a cost effective way, which saw the creation of the Community Leak Program.  Designed to reduce leaks in the Darwin region, the Program also increased community awareness about why it is important to reduce the amount of water wasted in the region. 

The Community leak Program began with a team of Leak Checkers walking the streets of Darwin checking water meters for potential leaks.  About 30,000 meters were checked over 8 months, a huge effort by our trusty Leak Checkers.  Whether a leak was found or not, a Leak Card was left in the letter box letting residents know that we had checked their property for leaks and if one was found encouraging  them  to contact a registered plumber to help confirm, locate and fix their leak using the $200 Leak Find and Fix rebate.

In total there were over 6200 leaks fixed saving approximately 1 billion litres of water.  The Program in Darwin is now complete with the majority of the leaks identified fixed and as a result the rebates are no longer available. 

That’s not to stay that the Darwin community shouldn’t stay vigilant in looking for leaks!  There will always be a certain amount of leaks and they can spring up anytime.  The aim of the Community Leak Program and the Leak Find & Fix rebate was to bring leaks to the attention of the Darwin community, helping people understand that it’s easy to check for leaks and what to do once a leak is suspected or found.  We hope that people will continue to call plumbers to help them fix leaks – it’s in their own interest!

Living Water Smart thanks all registered plumbers, who have been an integral partner in this Program, as well as the Darwin community who embraced the program and helped to save this huge amount of water.  One billion litres of water that would have just been lost down the drain.     

Many people think that Darwin has an endless supply of water, but this is a myth. We are currently using more water than can be captured and supplied in the long term.