Liquid gold leaves a $ 1.3m council bill
TOWNSVILLE r a t e p a y e r s have already spent nearly $ 1.3 million pumping water from the Burdekin Dam.
Townsville City Council started pumping from the Burdekin Dam, in combination with water services providers Trility and SunWater, in mid- November when the city’s Ross Dam hit the 15 per cent capacity trigger point.
The latest figure, provided by the council, put the average daily cost of pumping water at $ 35,000.
Townsville Water and Waste general manager Scott Moorhead said that on average the council had pumped 120 megalitres a day since pumping started on November 13.
“We have pumped just over 4100ML since pumping started in Townsville,” he said. “There has only been minor maintenance and repairs on the pipe.”
Mr Moorhead said it was important residents remained vigilant about water use.
“Residents have been able to keep ( the city’s total daily consumption) just over 100ML a day on the Level 3 restrictions … at a time when they are tired ( of the water restrictions) and have struggled to keep their gardens in shape,” he said.
“But it’s important that everyone in the community plays their part to conserve water and that is what the community as a whole is doing, sticking to just over 100ML of water a day.”
Mr Moorhead said if residents continued to conserve water, Ross Dam could be maintained at just under 15 per cent capacity for some time.
No sprinkler or irrigation systems
Handheld watering* only 6am- 7am and 6pm- 7pm ( odd and even system)
Buckets, watering cans and drip irrigation systems can be used at any time
Switch off all automatic watering systems
Use a broom to clean hard surfaces ( not a hose)
“Although there is no forecast of rain in the short- term, it doesn’t take much to cause the dam level to rise,” he said.
“Last year around midJanuary, we only got an initial
Use a bucket or waterefficient car wash to clean vehicles and boats
Even houses – Tuesday and Saturday
Odd houses – Wednesday and Sunday * Handheld watering means that you are watering your garden with a hose that you are holding on to. 150mm of rain and a few more weather events after that.
“Those rain events, which began in January this year, weren’t enough to get us out of Level 3 restrictions but it was enough to keep us going. We were able to stop pumping around then and that kept us going until mid- November.”
The pumps last ran between November 16 last year and January 15 this year. Mr Moorhead said he was hopeful a similar pattern of pumping would happen this year.
“It would be great to get rain to be able to turn the pumps off and even see the return of Level 2 water restrictions,” he said. “But in the meantime, the community and the council need to continue to work together to make the water we do have last for as long as possible.”
Mr Moorhead said the council would continue to use water efficiency management plans on vital city parks and sporting grounds.
“There are vital community infrastructure that are irrigated, but water is being used on those areas as efficiently as possible,” he said. “The parks and gardens have been able to scale back and cut total water usage by 60 per cent.
“The council is also ensuring all water pipes and infrastructure is free of leaks and is working effectively.”
Work has already broken ground on Stage 2 of the $ 215 million Haughton pipeline duplication, which would provide water security for the next 30 to 40 years.