Cr Hilary Smerdon
August 26, 2019
Gympie Regional Council has begun trucking water into Goomeri from Murgon due to a failure at the town’s bores.
Local councillor Hilary Smerdon said the town’s main bore at the sports oval had run dry.
A secondary bore at Barrett Road also appeared to be affected.
The town’s third bore, at the school, was still pumping but could not keep up the supply needed for the town.
“It can supply one litre per minute, but the town needs eight litres per minute,” Cr Smerdon said.
Three or four trucks have been carting in water from Murgon every day.
Cr Smerdon said he hoped the situation would improve “within a week to a fortnight at the max”.
The Council has begun upgrading at the Goomeri water treatment plant to allow it to process water from Kinbombi Reservoir.
This reservoir currently has the capacity to supply Goomeri with water for between six and 12 months.
“A bonus will be the quality of the water will actually improve for residents,” Cr Smerdon said.
A “conserve water alert” was distributed to Goomeri residents late last week.
“Council is urging residents to conserve water to make sure the current storage levels in the reservoirs can continue to supply the Goomeri area if repairs take longer than expected,” the notice said.
“Customers may also experience low pressure or low levels of supply,
“Council apologises for any inconvenience and thanks the community for their patience during this period.”
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Gympie Regional Council is experimenting with a new system that will put the responsibility for controlling water usage back on residents.
In conjunction with the University of the Sunshine Coast, the GRC has begun a 12-month trial in Amamoor which replaces Level 3 water restrictions with a weekly, five kilolitre allocation per household.
“For towns in our region that are on permanent water restrictions, there may be a better way to ensure water security,” GRC manager of water business Stephen Jewell said.
The trial aims to test the viability of a water allocation program as opposed to imposed water restrictions, empower residents to manage their own water allocation, and provide an opportunity for council to measure water usage in areas that rely on non-secure water sources.
