TAMWORTH residents are being urged to curb their water use, with the city's temporary pipeline almost at maximum capacity.
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This week, the city has been using 19 megalitres a day. The temporary pump station and pipeline drawing water from the weir damming the river at Dungowan can only handle "about 20 to 21 megalitres a day".
Tamworth Regional Council water and waste manager Dan Coe said normally, the pumps at the Calala water treatment plant could suck up to 60 megalitres a day from the Peel.
However, with the state government cutting the river's flow early this month to conserve water, that's not an option.
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If the city goes over the 21 megalitre limit, it will be forced to draw water from its emergency backup supply, the Paradise Wells, something council would prefer to do sparingly.
"There are a couple of unknowns with those bores," Mr Coe said.
"We don't know what the long-term effects on their production will be with the river's flow cut. We want to try and maintain that water source for as long as possible."
The 10-megalitre dam being constructed at the Calala water treatment plant will help council manage peak demand periods.
"There is significant change in water use during the week, because of industrial users it's much higher," Mr Coe said.
"Over the weekend it drops to 16 megalitres. The storage will allow us to balance that water use out."
The dam is expected to be finished in the next couple of weeks. Until then, residents are being to urge to use water as conservatively as possible, particularly with evaporative coolers.
A fact sheet about how to make evaportive coolers run efficiently is on TRC's website.