Southern Sydney residents whose homes were destroyed by a burst water pipe yesterday have begun the long clean-up process. Experts say the incident demonstrates Sydney’s water infrastructure is out of sate and in dire need of maintenance.
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00:00This Como home stripped to the bone, saturated from the roof to the floor.
00:09Just filled all upstairs, went downstairs, downstairs flooded, came through the windows,
00:14garage flooded.
00:15It was just pouring through all the gaps of the full force and the back garage door.
00:22So yes, it was frightening.
00:24Cheryl Gordon was home when the large water pipe behind her southern Sydney townhouse
00:29burst.
00:30I heard like a massive bang, so that's when it absolutely just came flying out and it
00:35just aimed right at my house, my back windows.
00:39It was frightening.
00:40I was shaking because I didn't know what to do, I didn't know should I leave?
00:44Some residents here in Como say they're frustrated that it took several hours and multiple calls
00:49to Sydney Water before the burst was blocked.
00:52Meanwhile, experts say the incident is an indication that Sydney's water infrastructure
00:57is in urgent need of maintenance.
01:00If we're not maintaining, if we're not continually renewing these 50, 60, 70 year old assets,
01:06then we will see more and more incidents like this one.
01:09Sydney Water says it's looking to invest $26 billion to address growing demand on ageing
01:16infrastructure.
01:17That would mean increasing water levies by 50% by the end of the decade.
01:22We need to see that expenditure of more than a billion dollars per year ongoing and that's
01:27obviously going to have a significant impact on customer bills.
01:32The bill will also be steep for the damage in Como.
01:36Insurance yes has set us up an emergency accommodation and it's probably going to take six to eight
01:42months, minimum six months to have that whole place just redone, ceilings, floors, everything.
01:50A long road out of a big mess.