Treated water restored to Mossman Water Treatment Plant

Treated water has been restored to the Mossman Water Treatment Plant after ‘a hectic couple of days’ however water restrictions are still in place for residents. How water was restored.

Treated water has been restored to the Mossman Water Treatment Plant after ‘a hectic couple of days’ as Douglas Shire Council managed to get water moving with sufficient pressure into the treatment plant to reinstate production.

It comes after council and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services issued a conserve water notice to residence on Tuesday evening.

Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr said crews were able to break through concrete at the plant to allow water to bypass the blockage.

“We were able to break through the concrete of the inlet to allow water to bypass the blockage and flow to the water treatment plant with enough quantity to sustain the pressure required,” Cr Kerr said.

Residents of Mossman Gorge will see drinkable water in their taps first, followed by Port Douglas Residents.

Necessary pressure build-up in the pipelines will require a few hours for water to flow

in Port Douglas.

However a statement put out by the council said it was critical for residents to practice level 4 water restrictions and avoid unnecessary water consumption, such as long showers, using the hose for cleaning, filling pools or watering lawns.

“We must allow the reservoirs to build capacity to ensure water resilience in case another failure occurs, everyone needs to play their part to conserve water as much as possible,” Cr Kerr said.

“This has been a huge effort by everyone on the water team, and I thank residents for their

continued support and patience.”

Two large boulders and debris have caused major blockages on the Port Douglas water treatment system, leaving the shire without potable water.

Earlier, Douglas Shire Council has made bottled drinking water available to the public after a failure at the Mossman Water Treatment Plant.

Crews are making a “last ditch effort” to get the treatment plant functioning before supplying non-potable water to the shire.

If the attempt fails, council has decided to bypass the water treatment plant with non-potable water that can be used for hygiene purposes.

One that process occurs, it is expected to continue for an extended period of time.

Residents will be urged to boil water if the water supply swaps over, which, cooled down, can be used for drinking (and pets), cooking, washing raw foods and dishes, making ice and cleaning teeth.

In the meantime, bottled drinking water was made available from 10am Friday at the Mossman State High School Sports Centre on Front St, Mossman, the Newell Beach Fish and Chip Shop at 42 Marine Pde, Newell Beach, and the Port Douglas Community Hall, on the corner of Mowbray and Mudlo Sts, Port Douglas.

Water is limited to 2L per person.

The council is asking for patience and to be respectful when collecting water.

Trucks with non-potable water (for hygiene use) will be parked at the Port Douglas

Community Hall and Mossman State High School Sports Centre, Front Street Mossman from 10am on Friday.

Council confirmed the water treatment plant faced major issues with the ability to treat water, with large rocks and debris – that are challenging to move – blocking the inlet that feeds into the treatment plant.
The issue was caused by landslides upstream of Rex Creek.

As a result of many landslides within the Rex Creek catchment area, council expects ongoing heavy sediment challenges.
Crews are currently clearing air pockets from the water main by activating air bleed valves along the 5km intake water main.

Douglas Shire residents were late on Thursday night ordered to stop using water immediately following a failure of the Mossman water treatment plant.

A complete water loss for all customers was expected from midnight on Thursday.

Acting chief executive Scott Mason said everything has been done to keep treated water flowing but issues at the treatment plant were “complex.”

Upstream landslips and turbidity on the Rex River but despite a "mammoth effort" to fix the issue Douglas shire residents have been ordered to stop using water immediately. Picture: Douglas Shire Council

“Despite a mammoth effort to try and get the water treatment plant up and running, we haven’t been successful,” he said.

Landslides from upstream of Rex Creek have caused blockages to the water treatment plant.

Two water pumps from Cairns were brought in as an alternative method to transfer water to the treatment plant but are experiencing water pressure and air pocket challenges.

These challenges have prevented the treatment plant from running correctly.

“We are working around the clock to alleviate the issue as quickly as possible,” Mr Mason said.

“An emergency SMS has already been issued to everyone in the area, and we sincerely apologise for this setback.”

The water treatment failure follows a national campaign calling for holiday-makers to not cancel a Port Douglas getaway and that the resort town was open for business.

An update will be provided by Douglas Shire Council on Friday morning.

Douglas Shire Council will provide an update on the water situation on Friday morning. Picture: Douglas Shire Council

Earlier, an emergency alert to conserve water has been issued to Mossman and Port Douglas residents as water production rates decreased.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services issued the advice alert at 5.45pm on Tuesday.

“An Emergency Alert (Advice) has been issued by the Douglas Shire Council for residents of Port Douglas and Mossman to conserve water and cease non-essential water use,” the alert read.

“Residents are advised that water infrastructure in the area has been affected by recent flooding, which has resulted in a lower rate of production.”

For further information, residents were urged to monitor the Douglas Shire Disaster Dashboard for an update on when water usage would return to normal.

It comes two days after residents across Port Douglas were told to conserve water to ensure they have enough supplies on Christmas Day, amid ongoing efforts to get the network back to full capacity.

Water Minister Glenn Butcher, in a statement, said the biggest flood in the town’s history after copping 2.5 metres worth of rain had caused significant damage to local water supply infrastructure.

The Queensland Reconstruction Authority confirmed crews were continuing to work on burst mains across Mossman, Newell Beach and Cooya Beach.

But it is residents and business in Port Douglas which are being asked to conserve water for only essentials, like drinking, hand washing, flushing and showering.

This will help crews, who are working round the clock, to ensure adequate filtration and long-term reliability of supply.

During the flooding the water intake at the treatment plant was blocked and while the council was able to get the network up and running the network of more than 200 km of pipes have experienced a number of leaks.

It will take some time for the system to regain its usual pressure settings.

Bottled water is available at the Port Douglas Community Centre.

It comes as Emergency Services Minister Nikki Boyd confirmed personnel had assessed 4276 properties, with 554 moderately damaged, 126 homes severely damaged and 12 destroyed.

She revealed $1.5m in disaster assistance payments had been handed out, helping a total of 8758 people.

“Please access the community recovery hotline because we are very keen to make sure that individuals businesses, agriculture and not for profits are accessing the financial assistance that they can to help them to recover as quickly as possible,” Ms Boyd said.

More than $100m in tourism has been lost to the Far North but the focus in Port Douglas remains getting emergency relief to isolated communities such as Mossman and Daintree.

Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr said emergency relief teams from the SES, Queensland Fire Emergency Services and Queensland police had been brought in on Tuesday.

Cairns floods 2023: The toll booth at Daintree ferry washes away. Picture: Charmaine Norris

“The ADF (Australian Defence Force) has now been deployed but I’m not sure in what capacity,” Mr Kerr said on Tuesday.

“We’ve still got a disaster across the river, we are trying to get people on the ground at Wonga Beach and the Lower South Arm drive is inundated,” he said.

Mr Kerr said some spots had reported 650mm of rain each night.

“There’s water running through houses, they’re running out of food, water and diesel for generators,” he said.

Cairns floods 2023: Local resident Charmaine Norris rescued Daintree Ferry staff.

Mr Kerr said while Port Douglas was left relatively unscathed by the torrential weather, the other half of the shire was in desperate need.

“Mossman St has been flooded all the way to the high school, where we have sandbagged to stop water going in to the evacuation area,” he said.

He said Daintree River reached a whopping 15m and businesses including Daintree Tea House and Daintree Ecolodge, just south of Barratt Creek on the Port Douglas side of Daintree Village, had been completely flooded.

Mossman River burst its banks at the Foxton bridge on the northern exit from the town. Picture: Liam Kidston

“We got a call from someone there with Skylink and the water is as high as the power poles,” Mr Kerr said.

“For those who do get (communication) access, help is on the way, we are doing everything we can.”

On Tuesday, the mayor said Mossman had no power, no water, and Port Douglas was down to 7 per cent water.

State MP for Cairns, and recently elected Tourism Minister, Michael Healy said earlier this week while he was in touch with tourism authorities, the focus was on rescuing people and boats running from Port Douglas to Cairns Marina to get tourists who needed to go home, out.

Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr said extra emergency crews were arriving on Tuesday. Picture: Liam Kidston

“I don’t think the road between Port Douglas and Cairns will be open for several weeks,” Mr Healy said.

He said there would be talks with Queensland Reconstruction Authority not just about help restoring infrastructure, but also lost tourism revenue.

Harry Cobb, from Mossman, whose dad Jack’s house has been flooded. Photo Harry Cobb.

The road between Port Douglas and Cairns is cut near the Rex Lookout and just north of Yule Point at Mowbray, according to Transport and Main Roads.

Mr Kerr said those who were able to stay at their homes had used buckets of water to flush toilets.

“Cyclone Jasper drew a lot of attention but it’s this secondary disaster of major flooding that has left our community in a dire situation,” he said.

He urged people not to cancel trips to Port Douglas for early next year, saying the tourism hot spot was already open for business.

Treasurer Cameron Dick also affirmed the Far North remained open for tourists, with businesses in Cairns and the surrounds asking visitors to come back for a holiday.

Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree chief executive Glenn Hingley said everyone had pitched in.

“Once it was identified that the road was cut off our operators put their hands up and said, ‘yeah – let’s do it’,” he said.

“At this point there’s still some debris offshore but it’s really commendable the way they’ve decided to spring to it.

“They’re bringing in essential supplies, including medication – they’re not just sitting back at home,” Mr Hingley said.

“We saw that with the hotels that had power last week, offering showers and letting people charge their phones.

“We need to keep these ferry services operating until the road opens.

He said Reef Magic and Norseman Reef Fishing were among those ferrying people and essential goods.

Quicksilver ran a one-off ferry service on Tuesday.

Originally published as Treated water restored to Mossman Water Treatment Plant