Tuggeranong in four facts
Mostly houses
In the Tuggeranong SA3 area, 79.5% of occupied homes were separate houses at the 2021 Census, and only 20.6% were rented, against 30.7% across the ACT. 46.0% were owned with a mortgage.
Networks from the 1970s and 1980s
Most of the district's public pit, pipe, cable and road network was built in those two decades. Tuggeranong was one of four towns in the National Capital Development Authority's Y-Plan of 1970.
Canopy and flat ground
Canopy cover is above 20%, the fourth highest of the districts. Much of the land is relatively flat, with gradients under 3%, and the steeper ground is mostly along the edge.
The lake and the low spots
Water sensitive urban design in the suburbs is improving water quality in Lake Tuggeranong. Some sections of the district are subject to localised flooding.
A leak you cannot see
Icon Water maintains the pipe from the main to your meter in most cases, including the meter and its isolation valve. Everything on the house side of the meter is yours, and plumbers aren't authorised to work on Icon Water's network.
To test for a leak, turn off every water-using appliance, read the meter last thing at night, and read it again next morning before anyone uses water. If the numbers have moved, you may have a leak. A leak detection specialist can trace it before anything is dug up.
If the leak was hidden, Icon Water may make a one-off adjustment to your consumption charges, up to $2,500. The application needs a statement or invoice from your licensed plumber giving the date the leak was found and repaired, how it was detected, what and where it was, and where the water was escaping to.
Frosty mornings
The Bureau of Meteorology's Canberra Airport station, with records from 2008, averages 15.8 days at or below 0°C in July and 92.3 days a year at or below 2°C. Garden taps and pipes on outside walls are the most exposed, so lag them before winter and know where your isolation valve is. If one does split, an emergency plumber is the call.
Icon Water's plans for the trunk sewers
Icon Water predicts capacity constraints in Tuggeranong's trunk sewers in the medium term, and a Tuggeranong sewer augmentation is on its list. That work is Icon Water's. Your part is the drain from the house to the sewer tie, which is where blocked drains in Canberra and relining come in.
What we would do
If your water bill jumps, do Icon Water's overnight meter test before calling anyone. A meter that moves with every tap off means water is going somewhere. Book a leak specialist, and keep their written report: Icon Water's leak adjustment asks for exactly that detail, and you won't get it later from memory.