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Speaker 1: New research is proving to be grim reading for our

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Speaker 1: water infrastructure. According to the latest briefing from the Public

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Speaker 1: Health Communications Center, our pipes are leaking at a rate

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Speaker 1: far higher than leading European countries and it's wasting around

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Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty two million each year. Leakage levels

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Speaker 1: and countries like the Netherlands and Germany are sitting at

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Speaker 1: five percent and six percent for us. In New Zealand

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Speaker 1: it's a twenty one percent. What in New Zealand. CEO

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Speaker 1: Jillian Blythe joins me, Now, good morning.

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Speaker 2: Jillian, good morning.

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Speaker 1: What's your reaction to this? You surprised at all?

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Speaker 2: No, I'm not surprised. We have had decades of under investment.

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Speaker 2: We have not spent enough money on renewing our pipes,

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Speaker 2: and so that means when you don't spend the money,

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Speaker 2: you are going to get the leaks of the levels

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Speaker 2: that we've got at the moment.

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Speaker 1: You make it sound like a very simple problem, but

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Speaker 1: it's quite a complex issue, isn't it.

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Speaker 2: It is. It is complex because it's not just about

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Speaker 2: finding an increasing of ways of investment. We know we've

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Speaker 2: got to lift the capacity and the capability of the

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Speaker 2: sector to do this. We need to be able to

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Speaker 2: look at the different technologies, whether it's different prench assessing

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Speaker 2: assessing sensing gauges, or thermal imagery or acoustic devices or

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Speaker 2: ground penet penetrating radar, all of those techniques to be

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Speaker 2: able to discover where the leaks are. Because it's not

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Speaker 2: just the water fountain that you see on a pipe

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Speaker 2: down the street, you know, or it's not just what's

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Speaker 2: on your private network, you know with the leaking tap.

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Speaker 2: There are leaks throughout the system that need to be

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Speaker 2: fixed and we need to do this. We've got to

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Speaker 2: increase the investment in our networks, we've got to lift

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Speaker 2: the capability, and we've got to lift the capacity of

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Speaker 2: the sector. But we also require improved oversight from the

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Speaker 2: Commerce Commission, which will now be once we've got legislation

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Speaker 2: that's before the House. Once that's pasted, the Commisce Commission

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Speaker 2: will be providing economic regulation oversight to join the water

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Speaker 2: services authorities. So to matter, how do I in there

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Speaker 2: looking at the quality and the safety of our water.

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Speaker 1: So, Julian, are these things that we should be doing

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Speaker 1: or are we just sitting and waiting for the Coalition

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Speaker 1: Government's local water done well? Reforms to kind of fully kick.

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Speaker 2: In counfuls every day that are delivering water at the

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Speaker 2: moment are looking at how do we how do we

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Speaker 2: detect leaks, and how do we improve that. So you've

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Speaker 2: got counsels at the moment that are introducing or beginning

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Speaker 2: the process of introducing water meters and looking towards volumetric charging.

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Speaker 2: That makes a difference to you and I when we

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Speaker 2: are considering whether there's water that might be leaking on

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Speaker 2: our properties when we suddenly realize we're having to pay

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Speaker 2: for it. That we've got work that's going on at

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Speaker 2: the moment in terms of putting more censors into our

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Speaker 2: networks and understanding that and those other techniques I talked about.

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Speaker 2: But we've also got things that are happening because if

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Speaker 2: you think about, you know, a busy street in any center,

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Speaker 2: you know it takes time if you've got to dig

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Speaker 2: the road up. So that the work that's going on

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Speaker 2: in terms of TRENCHERSS technologies such that we can fix

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Speaker 2: those pipes in ways that don't destruct you and I

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Speaker 2: as much as they would do if it was just

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Speaker 2: digging up the road.

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Speaker 1: Jillian, it's always lovely to talk to you but I'm

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Speaker 1: always slightly apprehensive as well, because it feels like there's

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Speaker 1: never really good news. Do you got have you got

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Speaker 1: some hope that we're going to be able to get

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Speaker 1: this sorted?

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Speaker 2: Oh, it's totally something that we can address. But this

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Speaker 2: is because it's taken decades to develop the types of

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Speaker 2: problems that we've got. It's not an overnight face and

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Speaker 2: so we've got to keep our focus. And that's when

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Speaker 2: I think one of the you know, some of the

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Speaker 2: attractions within the what's proposed by this government as it

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Speaker 2: was in the previous government, about having council controlled organizations

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Speaker 2: that will be focusing on one topic, which is water,

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Speaker 2: recognizing that's drinking water and wastewater and the summer will

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Speaker 2: be stormwater. It's so important that you've got that laser

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Speaker 2: focus on it and that you are asking all the questions.

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Speaker 2: You know that those those professional directors are asking those

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Speaker 2: critical questions at the Order and Risk committees that will

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Speaker 2: make a difference to to I think the water sector

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Speaker 2: moving forward.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much, Jillian, always appreciate your time. That was

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Speaker 1: Water on New Zealand and CEO Jillian Life. For more

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Speaker 1: from earlier edition with Ryan Bridge listen live to news

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Speaker 1: talks it be from five am weekdays, or follow the

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