Most routine upgrades to public infrastructure do not involve getting community approval and feedback, but it is a different story when that infrastructure is as iconic as the Goldfields water supply scheme.

In January 2020, Water Corporation WA announced it would be removing the original above-ground parts of the iconic Goldfields pipeline and install new pipes below ground over the next 50 years.

Water Minister Dave Kelly said the process was a more efficient and modern way of maintaining the pipeline. 

Now, community consultations are open to the public on the 50-year plan to renovate the pipeline. 

"Because of the significance of the pipeline, effectively it needs heritage approval," Mr Kelly said. 

Some tourism operators had already expressed the importance of the pipeline for their industry to the minister. 

"For them, having the pipeline highly visible to the community is part of the story. We want to identify which parts of the pipeline need to be maintained and visually accessible to the public," Mr Kelly said. 

The significance of the pipeline's viability is a sentiment echoed by Mike Lefroy, historian and great-grandson of the pipeline's engineer, CY O'Connor. 

"We'll still be reminded of an incredible project that took so much state money but provided such a service."

As much as he wanted the history of his great-grandfather's legacy to be preserved, Mr Lefroy was realistic about upgrades to the water scheme. 

"I just think of what he would think and if it was explained to him that 40 per cent of the pipe is 120 years old and they're still working but there are lots of leaks," he said. 

"As an engineer, he would say for goodness sake just fix it up. Just do what you have to do to make it work."

Why does it mean so much to people?

Anne Brake from the National Trust said the renovations needed to be sensitive to the national significance of the pipeline.

She said the pipeline was an important asset because of the role it played in enabling the state to unlock the riches of the Goldfields.

"There was a water crisis in the eastern Goldfields. Men were dying of thirst, literally, but also of the various illnesses that come with contaminated water from the water that was there," Ms Brake said.

"It was an incredibly important component of the success of Western Australia as a state, allowing it to grow."

Ms Brake also said there were certain key areas of the pipeline that needed to be retained.

"There are pipes going across the hills, there are special valves, and there are welders' signatures," she said.

Ms Brake also called on Water Corporation WA to commit to maintaining historic sections of the pipeline so that they were not vandalised or destroyed.

"The Water Corporation needs to make a commitment to that, but that's an important part of their civic duty, we believe," she said.

Water Corporation WA said it was committed to the ongoing preservation and maintenance of the pipeline. 

Water Minister Dave Kelly said maintenance costs were unclear due to the scale of the 50-year project.