Water and sewer emergencies & interruptions

Please call the City 24-hours a day 7 days a week in the case of sewer overflows or moderate to major water leaks on public land.

Emergency sewer and water contact 02) 6648 4000

Sewer overflow

Call us immediately if you see a sewer overflow on your property or on the street or other public land. It is also important that you call us if you see anyone trespassing or damaging our sewer infrastructure. 

Important:

  • Avoid all contact with sewer and keep clear of any contaminated items. 
  • Stop using your toilet or flushing water if the sewer overflow is within your property.

Water leak

Public land

Urgent - Call us immediately if you see a moderate to major water leak or a water leak causing harm or property damage. 

Non-urgent - you can call us about non-urgent enquiries such as puddles, damp ground, a slowly leaking water meter, hydrant or stop valve during normal business hours on 02) 6648 4000.

Private land

If there is a leak on private land, it is the responsibility of the property owner to arrange repairs by a licensed plumber. If your water usage has increased and you are unable to account for the change you may have a hidden water leak.

Water supply interruptions

Sometimes the City will need to shut off water to a section of our supply network. This can be for 

  • planned maintenance
  • improvements to the network
  • emergency repair works

Before the water is turned off

The City will usually give 24-hours' notice to all residents affected by planned works on water mains.

When urgent or unscheduled repair work takes place, we do our best to repair and resume water supply as soon as possible. When this happens, we will not be able to notify residents individually, but we will put information on our Facebook page.

After the water is turned back on

After any repairs or upgrades, we will flush water mains to remove any dirt that is in the pipe. 

Following flushing, you may temporarily experience one of the following issues:

Discoloured water - although we remove most of the dirt through flushing, sometimes small dirt particles remain, which can colour your water. To fix, run your tap until the water turns clear. You may need to do this to all taps. If your water is still not clear after a couple of minutes, pleases contact the City. 

Milky / cloudy water - small air bubbles can make your water appear milky or cloudy. These air bubbles have no adverse health effects on water quality. If you fill a glass from the tap and let it sit, the water will start to clear from the bottom up as the air bubbles rise to the surface. Air in the water mains should clear quickly, but if the problem persists at your property, please phone us on 02) 6648 4000.