Hope is in the pipeline for Wandobah Road residents starved of Gunnedah’s town water supply.
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Property owners Lex and Jo Woods praised moves by Gunnedah council to shore up design funds for a new pipeline to Curlewis via Wandobah.
“[Council] said ‘we’re here and to help’ and have moved this ahead in leaps and bounds,” Mr Woods said.
“I believe the have excelled in getting us to where we are today.”
Gunnedah council resolved at its March meeting to allocate $130,000 for conceptual design plans for the much-needed infrastructure.
But times have been tough and some residents in the area have gone days without town water.
The pipes ran dry four times last month for the Woods’ couple at Carlyon Avenue.
“Sometimes we had no water through the meter at all,” he said.
Mr Woods understands the current pipeline was originally meant to supply water to only 250 households in the area but now caters for nearly 400.
“It’s the just quantity of water,” he said.
“We need more volume of water.
“We have plenty of pressure but not enough water in the line to do what we need to do.”
The shortage meant property owners were forced to continually pump water to storage tanks to safeguard their supply.
The Woods back up water to three 5000 gallon water tanks filled by costly electric-driven pumps. But the quantity of water has been that low due to council imposed restrictors, it takes nearly a week to refill just one tank.
Council highlighted last year how restrictors ensured a reduced flow of four litres per minute at the pumping station was delivered to all households in the area.
Then there is the threat of fire.
“The biggest issue is the fire risk,” Mrs Woods said.
“We don’t have the measures here to fight it.”
The pair was evacuated from the property about four years ago when a fire loomed over a neighbouring ridge.
They said the pipeline would not only mitigate their fire risk in a bush fire-zoned area, it would also significantly reduce their electricity bill which is dominated by pump operation.
Mr Woods said they only seek a water supply equal the rest of Gunnedah.
“Hopefully we can run unrestricted town water,” he said. “That would be perfect.”
