John Wright has just marked 40 years as staff member and contractor for Coliban Water and oversees work on everything from the smallest leak to the kind of bursts that shut down entire business districts.

"In 2001 or 2002 a 500mm pipe burst in Kangaroo Flat outside the McDonalds and when we arrived on site we had to phone the police because we needed traffic control," he said.

"They actually shut part of the highway for a day-and-a-half. The water that burst there was running down through the business centre of Kangaroo Flat.

"That was significant and stressful. When you shut those big feeder mains off you're interrupting service to other customers."

It remains unclear to this day why that pipe broke.

Huge amounts of water can surge out of big pipes when they break. A rupture in the middle of Castlemaine 10 years ago sent water shooting high above traffic lights.

Those kinds of bursts are becoming rarer these days because water pressure is better managed and ageing pipes have been replaced, Mr Wright said.

There are also less pieces of machinery compromising pipes in some areas of town.

"Throughout the 1980s there were burst mains through Golden Square because the trams that were operating through there were putting out electrical currents that ate away at steel mains," Mr Wright said.

Mr Wright has been there for some of the most challenging moments in the region's history.

They have included responding in the aftermath of the 2009 bushfire that tore into Bendigo and the floods that swept through Bridgewater in 2011.

Mr Wright was part of the three-person team that flew into Bridgewater during the 2011 crisis to secure the town's water supply.

That flood wiped out large chunks of Coliban Water's network.

"So yes, they were trying times," Mr Wright said.

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The Lendlease contractor currently oversees work on everything from bursts and leaks to sewage blockages and customer complaints.

Mr Wright has been around long enough to become something of a company historian.

"This is the kind of job where there is a lot of challenges and a lot of trouble-shooting," he said.

"So when I'm giving advice to people who want to do something I can tell them if we've been down that path before."

Coliban Water's manager of customer operations Steve Dunlop was in awe of Mr Wright's knowledge.

"John is the go-to person for issues on our network and has a vast knowledge of the 2,360 kilometres of water mains and 1,986 kilometres of sewer mains across our region," he said.

"He is happy to share that knowledge and is a truly genuine person who puts relationships ahead of any situation."

Mr Wright has also been able to mentor younger workers as they come up through the ranks.

"You give them the feathers to fly with and send them on their way but it's nice to open the door for them to get into the industry," he said.

"Some of them come to us straight out of school and they go a long way and do great things.

"That's the really rewarding thing about it."

As much as he loves his work, Mr Wright has no intention of notching up 50 years for Coliban.

"Family is extremely important to me and life's not a dress rehearsal," he said.

"When that time to go will be I don't know, but at the moment things are really good here."

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