Riverina Water Country Council worked well into the night to replace pipe that had split length-ways. 

Engineering director Bede Spannagle said ground movement often caused problems but workers had fixed a one-in-ten-year kind of break, addressing a valve problem at the same time. 

Due to the damage, Mr Spannagle said both feeds had to be switched off.

“Residents would have had low-pressure water for about five or six hours,” Mr Spannagle said. 

“Main breaks happen but it’s rare the redundancy goes as well.”

Water was returned to homes after 9pm.

Mr Spannagle said the valve would need to be replaced eventually but residents would be warned ahead of time.