The Western Australian Government has announced the Water Corporation will bring forward a high-tech program aimed at better assessing the condition of water mains in Perth’s CBD.

The program will use Broadband Electro Magnetic (BEM) as part of an extensive pipe assessment program, which starts this week.

State Water Minister, Terry Redman, said that the Water Corporation had been trialing the BEM technology over the past year.

“Until now Water Corporation has relied on historical records to help decide when pipes needed fixing or replacing, but these records are sometimes incomplete, inaccurate or difficult to interpret,” Mr Redman said.

“Initially Water Corporation believed the pipe in Wellington Street was around 50 to 60 years old, but further analysis of their records suggests the pipe may be more than 100 years old.

“Water Corporation has the lowest rate of bursts for any major city in Australia and there is no reason to believe there are any major problems with other pipes across the city.