McCrae landslide
Update #2, 22 January 2025
South East Water is working closely with Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and Victoria State Emergency Services (SES) to support our shared customers and community.
We’re working tirelessly to help provide our customers, community and stakeholders with information, especially those customers who have been directly impacted by the landslide.
Water samples have been collected and tested from four different testing locations where pooling was identified as part of this investigation and provided to an independent laboratory for examination.
These results indicate the surface water tested is not from South East Water’s water supply.
What we’re doing now
Seeking information for our customers and community is at the heart of our investigation.
- We’re supporting customers through our 24-hour Faults and Emergencies team, and we’ve appointed a dedicated Customer Liaison Officer for this incident to support impacted customers.
- We’ve also been present in the McCrae community talking to customers and community. (You may also see us out and about as we go about our business as usual work in McCrae and right across our service area.)
We’re also providing temporary water supply to those in the area that require it.
Next steps
We’re committed to supporting the response by working closely with our customers, community and other authorities, including the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and the SES.
South East Water is working closely with Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and Victoria State Emergency Services (SES) to support our shared customers and community.
Following a request from the SES, we’ve shut off our drinking water supply to the immediate impact area and have implemented a temporary water supply for residents in surrounding properties impacted by the water shut down.
South East Water started sampling on 26 November 2024 after receiving a customer report of water surfacing in Waller Place, McCrae.
At the request of Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, we expanded our sampling to include water surfacing at other locations in the area.
Water surfacing is when water beneath the ground rises. Water underground moves upward when there's pressure, or if it finds a pathway, like cracks in rocks or soft soil.
Water samples have been collected and tested from four different testing locations where pooling was identified as part of this investigation and provided to an independent laboratory for examination.
The test results from the laboratory identified that the four samples had high electrical conductivity, contained very low levels of fluoride and had significantly higher chloride.
These results indicate the surface water tested is not from the drinking water supply.
In addition to the laboratory water sampling mentioned above, we’ve also used a range of diagnostic measures. This has included flow tests and pressure tests to identify possible leaks.
Investigation of our McCrae low level storage tank indicated no current leakage has occurred at this tank.
Over the last month we’ve also used acoustic leak detection technology within the testing area to listen to our underground pipes. We were unable to find any leaks that would impact in this area.
Night flow analysis is another method we have used to understand baseline water usage during low-demand periods. These results indicate that no abnormalities or leaks were detected within this area of the network.
We’re continuing to undertake leak detection works, to assess if any of our pipes in the area are leaking water.
We look after assets like water mains, pumping stations and storage tanks. We also look after wastewater infrastructure such as sewer mains. It’s our job to deliver drinking water to our customers and take the waste away.
Some ways to monitor for leaks include turning off all taps and appliances and monitoring your water meter for changes, checking your water bill and looking for signs of leaks around the home and garden. You can visit our website for more information on this: Check for leaks | South East Water
The SES requested that South East Water cut off mains water supply to an area that they specified.
The decision to turn on water supply will be made by the leading control agency, SES. However, we’re providing a temporary water supply for customers in the area.
Please visit the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council website for more information.
Our Faults and Emergencies team are here to help. You can call us on our 24-hour line 13 28 12.