Clermont is again facing water shortages and restrictions after the town’s water supply pumps at Theresa Creek Dam failed earlier in the week.
This is the second round of water restrictions in two months, although this system failure is unrelated to earlier events.
“On Monday, both of the water pumps at the Theresa Creek Dam, which supplies raw water to Clermont, failed,” a spokesperson for Isaac Regional Council said.
“One pump has been replaced and is now pumping water into our system, [and] we are working on short-term repairs on the other pump, with the aim of replacing this pump once Clermont’s water supply has stabilised.
“We are urgently investigating what caused these failures. Divers are inspecting the water source pipes to check and clear any blockages.”
Council has deployed extra resources to restore supply, but is still drawing down stored water while it works to get both pumps operational.
However, voluntary and involuntary cuts to water use have been successful so far.
“The Clermont community has used considerably less water since our urgent notice was issued,” the IRC spokesperson added.
“At 4.30 pm yesterday, water consumption was 29.9 litres per second, and now, thanks to
our community, our use is down to 15.4 litres per second.”
Clermont residents faced nearly a week of water restrictions in August after the mining community was forced to restrict consumption when water supplies fell to critically low levels.
The situation arose after an operational failure at the Clermont Water Treatment Plant, caused by low alkalinity in the raw water source.