Water shortages are gripping the region, with water cartage trucks unable to keep up with demand.
Georgia Fairhall from Byron Shire Water Cartage told Echonetdaily that they are booked up for five weeks and aren’t accepting new orders.
She said, ‘We are hiring a truck from Griffith to keep up with supply. I spoke with a man who has been without water for ten days, and another mum with three little kids has just run out of water’.
‘My very hard working business partner Shem hasn’t had a day off in almost three months’.
Fairhall says local water cartage companies source their water from water utility Rous at Rocky Creek Dam.
‘Rous have told me they are expecting this drought to last till February’.
‘There is a line up at the filing stations… I have heard other water cartages are not answering their phones they are so backed up.’
Tweed extends carting hours
Tweed Shire Council have now extended their water carting hours by three hours a day for carters filling drinking water tanks to catch up with demand. Carters carrying potable water from Council’s extraction points can now operate from 5am-9pm seven days a week. They can only cart water within Tweed Shire as they are at level one water restrictions.
We have extended operating hours quickly to allow carters to catch up to demand and reduce wait times,’ Manager Water and Wastewater Anthony Burnham said.
‘By operating from 5am daily through to 9pm, the carters can fill up their tankers and be well on the road before morning and afternoon peak times. By avoiding the worst of the traffic, this also will reduce the risks to all road users of these heavily-laden vehicles.’
Mr Burnham said the move to extend hours was in recognition of being as efficient as possible in fill and travel times and not as a result of any bottleneck at extraction points.
‘There is plenty of capacity in our existing extraction points but we will continue to monitor that closely as the drought begins to bite hard in the Tweed,’ he said.
‘We acknowledge that this extension of hours may result in some increased noise for residents near to extraction points but ask them for their continuing patience and understanding as we work to alleviate the water shortage for those residents relying on a tank supply.’
The six water carters registered to operate in the Tweed are:
- C & P Reeve Road Works – contact Christopher Reeve on (02) 6672 4003 or 0408 458 860 or email:
- Jaiden Tanner Water Supplies – contact Jaiden Tanner on 0429 408 108 or email: [email protected]
- J & L Wise Water Carrying – contact John Wise on (02) 6677 9469 or 0407 455 741
- Gary Arnold Water Supplies – contact Gary Arnold on (02) 6679 5512 or 0402 713 474 or email:
- Glass~A~Water – contact Andrew Glaser on (02) 6672 6654 or email: [email protected]
- Tweed Valley Water Supplies – contact Scott Ousby on (02) 6679 3245 or email: [email protected]
This list can also be found at https://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/
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