National Water Week – Reimagining our Water Future

This week, for National Water Week we are reflecting on the ways we have reimagined our water use to ensure there’s enough of this vital resource in the future across the Moree Plains.

Water is a precious resource and at times, it is easy to forget how fortunate we are to be living on top of an impressive system of artesian and sub-artesian water. While the prospect of a bumper harvest is currently upon us, it was not so long ago that many villages within our Shire felt the burden of water restrictions tightening as the worst drought on record strengthened its grip.

In Mungindi, Level 5 water restrictions were applied shortly after Christmas as the Barwon River reached critically low levels. Moree Plains Shire Council reimagined how a safe domestic water supply could be delivered to the Mungindi community by turning to an alternative and sustainable water source for residences of Mungindi until substantial rainfall assisted the Barwon to flow again; our artesian water.

To address the dire situation, Council undertook urgent infrastructure upgrades to redirect water from the existing hot artesian bore (which mainly supplied water to the Mungindi pool) to the water treatment plant, allowing for the town’s potable water supply to be fully supplied by treated artesian water. 

While the artesian water proved to be of top quality and, in some ways, easier to treat than the river water, a potential obstacle was sufficiently cooling the water to allow for such treatment. In the past, small quantities of artesian water had supplemented the town’s water supply but substantial and urgent infrastructure works were needed for treatment of greater quantities of artesian water, including additional pipework, electrical upgrades and the installation of a cooling tower.

During the peak of summer, Mungindi’s town water supply was 100% sourced from the artesian bore for a little under three months until the Barwon River was replenished by rainfall and flows from the broader water system.

The construction of the cooling tower and other supplementary works have ensured water security for Mungindi in the event of future droughts. A great combination of using the best of our natural resources and some innovative thinking!