The leak in a submarine pressure sewage pipe discovered at Deep Creek last week is not an easy problem to fix.
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Nambucca Valley Council's General Manager, Michael Coulter, said initial investigations by divers on Friday were unable to locate the pipe, meaning it is likely buried under sediment and dredging is required to uncover it.
According to the Manager Water & Wastewater, Richard Spain, the pipe was orginally laid in teh late 1980s using an excavator off a barge.
"It is likely that it is buried deeper than we initially envisaged," Mr Spain said.
"We know where to look but we will need to serious equipment to get to it. We need divers and a dredge, which is not easy to access at short notice."
He said thanks to some furious phone calling by staff, both had been lined up for this Thursday.
"Hopefully we will be able to locate the pipe and discover the extent of the damage.
"In the best case scenario, it will just need a repair band (which we have also sourced) to seal the leak ... if it is more major than that we will have to look at other options."
Those options could include, for example, 'under-boring the creek with a new main'. Mr Coulter said an initial quote for such an operation was in the vicinity of $1000 per metre.
"For about 400 metres that's an expensive operation," Mr Coulter said.
Deep Creek remains closed to all activity.
For enquiries please contact council's Manager Water & Sewerage, Mr Richard Spain on 0418 468 368 or General Manager, Mr Michael Coulter on 0409 153 788.
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Ute Schulenberg
Journalism was always my plan but plans being what they are, I did not get to realise it until my early 40s ... and have loved every minute since. For me community journalism is the most intimate and honest place to be in this field - telling the stories of people I live with, side-by-side, every day. It is an honour.
Journalism was always my plan but plans being what they are, I did not get to realise it until my early 40s ... and have loved every minute since. For me community journalism is the most intimate and honest place to be in this field - telling the stories of people I live with, side-by-side, every day. It is an honour.
