COUNCIL believed it would be in a position to lift the city’s hastily-imposed level three water restrictions on Friday, as it seeks compensation from an unnamed contractor blamed for this week’s pump station meltdown.
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Tamworth Regional Council scrambled to conserve water on Wednesday after an unprecedented failure at the Peel River pump station near the Farrer school-grounds.
Council pinned the failure on a contractor, who it refused to name, and put the station out-of-action for more than 24 hours.
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In a statement to The Leader, council water director Bruce Logan said the level three restrictions would be lifted a lot sooner than expected.
“Assuming we experience no further problems, council will be in a position to lift level three water restrictions [on Friday],” Mr Logan said.
“Our staff worked into the night to achieve this.
“The damage has been repaired and a pump and motor has been reassembled.
“We are currently undertaking checks and tests on electric installations and connections that went under water.”
When the situation unfolded on Wednesday, Mr Logan said it would be potentially a very expensive repair which could leave Tamworth, Moonbi and Kootingal reticulated water-users on level three restrictions for an indefinite time.
Mr Logan initially said the best case scenario was seven days before the restrictions would be lifted.
Council was not prepared to provide the name of the contractor, despite pinning the station’s failure on damage cause to the main suction line from the Peel River during refurbishment.
“Our first priority was to understand what had occurred and how we could fix it, and quickly,” Mr Logan said.
“We have now commenced discussions in relation to compensation.”
Council thanked the community for its cooperation but also shut down contrary “social media commentary”.
“There was no fire at the pump station, nor could we have anticipated this issue and given advance notification to the change in water restrictions,” Mr Logan said.
“Chaffey Dam is currently at 67.6 per cent and there remains adequate water to supply our growing town.”
While Tamworth, Moonbi and Kootingal should be wound back to permanent water conservation measures from level three restrictions, it’s a different story across the region.
Manilla’s water restrictions will be officially tightened to level two on Monday, while Nundle remains on level three.
Jacob McArthur
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
