You might wonder, just how do Essex & Suffolk Water fix leaks in the supply network?
And we're happy to explain!
A leak is reported
We really appreciate when our customers spot and report leaks.
The information you give about the leak is recorded, and we send one of our leakage technicians to the leak location within 1 to 5 days, depending on the severity and location of the leak. We then check if the leak is on our pipes, and if it is, we schedule a repair.
Who fixes the leak?
Sometimes the leak is not our responsibility to repair, and may be on private pipework.
We will advise the owner and agree a date that the leak should be repaired by. Sometimes there is no leak found as the water can be surface water or due to a drainage issue.
We plan our repairs
Our pipes run under roads and footpaths, so we often need permission from local councils before we can start digging.
To ensure the safety of road users, pedestrians and our crews, we may need to use temporary traffic lights or divert traffic to carry out the repair.
In these cases, the council will carry out an assessment and, if they feel there is already too much work going on in the area, they will give us a date when we can return to fix the leak.
This means we may not be able to repair the leak for up to 21 days.
Time to fix the leak
One of our repair crews will visit the site and dig down in the road or footpath to repair the leak.
Barriers will be put up to keep people safe while we carry out the repair.
Once the leak is fixed, the crew will organise for their colleagues to reinstate the area.
Reinstatement
We will fill in the hole to permanently repair the road or footpath.
Sometimes we use a temporary repair, but will return to make it permanent within 5 days of the leak being fixed.
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