{"id":266755,"date":"2020-07-23T21:12:34","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T11:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=266755"},"modified":"2020-07-23T21:12:34","modified_gmt":"2020-07-23T11:12:34","slug":"goomeri-gets-its-water-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/07\/23\/goomeri-gets-its-water-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Goomeri Gets Its Water Back"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig and Deputy Mayor Hilary Smerdon at last year’s Goomeri Show … Cr Smerdon says he’s very happy long-standing problems with Goomeri’s water treatment plant are now fixed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 23, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Goomeri residents are happy the town’s water plant is finally back in operation after being out of action for more than a year.<\/p>\n

The water treatment plant failed last May when its filters became clogged with algae from Kinbombi Weir, forcing\u00a0the Council to switch the town’s water supply over to bores.<\/p>\n

But by August last year – when two bores ran dry and a third was unable to deliver adequate supplies – Council was forced to truck water in from Murgon to meet local demand, along with imposing tight restrictions that limited residents to 180 litres of water use per day.<\/p>\n

The state of Goomeri’s water supply was a hot topic at a pre-election meeting held at Goomeri Showgrounds on March 11.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Division 6 Cr Hilary Smerdon said he had resigned as Gympie Regional Council’s Water portfolio chair over the issue because he felt staff were not dealing effectively with the town’s water supply problems.<\/p>\n

Cr Smerdon said this issue – along with problems that resulted in Goomeri’s pool being closed through the 2019-20 swimming season – were both due to inadequate Council maintenance.<\/p>\n

He promised he would tackle the matter as a top priority if re-elected.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday night Cr Smerdon – who is now Gympie’s Deputy Mayor – said he was very happy to report Goomeri’s water plant was now back in operation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What he was not happy about was that the problem had cost ratepayers about $420,000 to remedy.<\/p>\n

Prompt action when the plant first failed 14 months ago would have seen the repair bill come in at about $130,000, he said.<\/p>\n

Cr Smerdon also advised that it would take a little time for the water plant’s output to reach all parts of the Goomeri’s water supply system.<\/p>\n

However, residents southburnett.com.au<\/strong> spoke to said they had noticed the difference already.<\/p>\n

“I won’t miss seeing white marks every time I wash my car or having my clothes come out of the wash as hard as boards,” one said.<\/p>\n

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