SOUTH East Water has been forced to spend more money to repair a sewage leak at its Pentecost Rd, Mornington, sewage pumping station after the first attempt failed.
Problems with the system were first revealed in August when contractors pumped out sewage from the station beside Tanti Creek near Nepean Highway over two nights prior to repair work. This required the partial closure of Pentecost Rd.
The News understands the EPA had tested water in the creek on 10 August and ordered SEW to carry out repairs.
A small amount of polluted water had entered the creek, which runs into Port Phillip at Mills Beach.
The repair bill was about $100,000 but the problem was not fixed.
New contractors returned to the site earlier this month and work was due to be completed last week but is ongoing. Pentecost Rd has again been partly closed, and traffic accessing Mornington’s light industrial area has been using alternate routes.
Last Friday, a South East Water spokesperson said “a small leak was identified and controlled at a sewer pumping station on Pentecost Rd … on 5 October”.
“Our sewer experts investigated and found the repair was more complex than expected, requiring deep and difficult excavation and a replacement part, which will be available in coming days.
“Once we receive the replacement part, our works will take a number of days. Water and sewerage services for local residents are not affected. We will continue to talk with local residents in the immediate vicinity to keep them informed.”
A custom-made sleeve will be used to join existing pipes. It will take about a week to fabricate.
SEW did not reveal the cost of the second attempt.
The recent and ongoing work follows the Pentecost Sewer Renewal project, which was carried out between May 2012 and mid-2013.
This involved renewing 1.7km of ageing underground sewer pipes at several locations around Pentecost, Watt, Mornington-Tyabb, Yuilles, and Dunns roads as well as Richardson Drive.
The Pentecost Rd sewage pump station was “renewed” and a new odour management system installed.
