Water Corp says maintenance of 54,000km of pipes a challenge amid complaints

Water surrounds the leaking tank, which is set to be repaired soon. (Supplied)

A wheatbelt water tank with water pumped about 400km from Perth has been leaking for two years, leaving local residents frustrated at the waste.

Locals say efforts to get the Water Corp to fix the leak have, until recently, gone unanswered.

Water Corp CEO Pat Donovan said the leak became more serious in May and it has taken time to engage a contractor to do repairs.

For two years, residents in one of the driest parts of Western Australia have watched thousands of litres of water leaking from a Water Corp owned tank.

Linda Rose, who lives south of the wheatbelt town of Southern Cross, about 400 kilometres from Perth, said she and many of her neighbours have watched the rusty water tank, supplied by the Goldfields water pipeline, leak into the ground.

"It's just so frustrating," Ms Rose told Nadia Mitsopoulos on 102.5 ABC Radio Perth.

Ms Rose said neighbours have told her that reports to the Water Corp have been unsuccessful.

"The locals have actually seen the Water Corporation checking on the tank," she said.

"What they're saying is that they can't actually do anything just in case the tank ruptures, and there's not enough money in the budget to fix the tank.

"Now the ground around the tank is so waterlogged it can't absorb any more water."

Water Corp chief executive Pat Donovan has viewed a video supplied by Ms Rose of water pouring out of the tank, and said he can "I can absolutely understand people's frustration".

"I know it's not what our customers expect of us, particularly as we're asking them to partner with us in being water wise," he said.

The large, rusted water tank in the Yilgarn shire has been leaking for two years. (Supplied)

Mr Donovan said that while the leak had been present for some time it had not been losing water to such a large extent, until recently.

"I'm told that as part of our routine monitoring there was a report of a slight leak a couple of years ago, and that was then identified as having become worse in late March of this year, and then significantly worse in May.

"We've been working since then to find a suitably qualified contractor with availability to do the work.

"We managed to secure one late last week. Our teams went out to site with them and they'll be kicking off that work this week, hopefully."

Mr Donovan said that such was the scale of the Water Corp's infrastructure it was impossible to get to every leak quickly.

"We have about 54,000 kilometres of pipe, largely buried, across the state," he said.

"If you add it all u