Taps dry, locals in the dark as Goomeri crisis continues
An already dry month has taken a turn for the worse for one small Queensland town, with bore failures forcing the local council to truck water in to keep the town afloat.
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AN ALREADY parched August has taken a turn for the worse at Goomeri, with bore failures forcing Gympie Regional Council to truck water in to keep the town afloat.
The council said in a media release yesterday the town's main water bore had failed.
Two auxiliary bores were also found to be not working.
Residents were notified of the issue in a "conserve water alert" leaflet delivered by Gympie Regional Council.
It urged residents to minimise water use because of a problem with the bores which was "impacting on the raw water supply and the operations of the Goomeri Water Treatment Plant".
"Gympie Regional Council crews are currently working to remedy this problem."
Residents are urged to conserve so "the current storage levels in the reservoirs can continue to supply the Goomeri area if repairs take longer than expected".
Water is now being trucked into the Goomeri community to help manage the problem, with a council spokesman saying this was at a cost of "up to $1500 a day, depending on source and demand".
"Water has largely been carted from Murgon, to reduce the transport costs," he said.
Low water pressure and low levels of supply may also be experienced until the problem is solved.
Goomeri resident Emma Schneider said the water crisis was not the only problem.
"As a resident it is concerning, but also not being kept in the loop in regards to our water issues may be more concerning," she said.
"No-one has been made aware of where the water is being trucked from, how long it will be for... what the next step is for the water treatment plant and bores..."
The cause of the problem is not known. One bore remains affected," the council spokesman said.
"The cause of the problem is not known. The bore is no longer producing water."
The reservoir is at 60 per cent capacity and residents have a target daily usage of 180 litres per person each day.
The town's water supply will remain interrupted until "late this week" as the council works to configure the treatment plant to use surface water from a Kinbombi reservoir.
Division 6 councillor and water portfolio holder Hilary Smerdon said this should do more than just return service to normal when finished.
"The quality of water should be improved when the Kinbombi water starts being used," he said.
Water will continue to be carted in the meantime, and residents are urged to be mindful the town is still on level three restrictions.
EARLIER:
THIS year's parched August has taken a turn for the worse at Goomeri with at least one of its bores running and dry and water now needing to be trucked in to keep the town afloat.
Residents were notified of the issue in an "conserve water alert" leaflet delivered by Gympie Regional Council on Thursday.
It urged residents to "minimise water use" because of a problem with the bores.
This was "impacting on the raw water supply and the operations of the Goomeri Water Treatment Plant", the flyer said.
"Gympie Regional Council crews are currently working to remedy this problem."
It urges residents to conserve so "the current storage levels in the reservoirs can continue to supply the Goomeri area if repairs take longer than expected".
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Water is now being trucked into the Goomeri region to help manage the problem.
Low water pressure and low levels of supply may also be experienced, it said.
Division 6 councillor Hilary Smerdon, who holds the council's water portfolio, said he hoped the problem will be fixed within the week.
"I encourage people to try and conserve as much as they can," he said.
And when it is fixed, Cr Smerdon said residents shpould be better off.
"The quality of water should be improved when the Kinbombi water starts being used," he said.
Originally published as Taps dry, locals in the dark as Goomeri crisis continues