Emergency water restrictions for Queensland town following pump failure

Residents of the central Queensland town of Clermont are being urged to conserve water as a critical shortage enters a second day.An emergency warning went out to Clermont residents via text on Tuesday afternoon after both water pumps at Theresa Creek Dam failed on Monday.The dam provides raw water to the town of about 3,000 people, 290 kilometres south-west of Mackay and 940km north-west of Brisbane.Isaac Regional Council has replaced one pump and is working on short-term repairs for the other.Extra council staff are refilling water tanks and monitoring water quality while divers have been in the dam investigating the cause of the failures.Council said the second pump would be fully replaced once Clermont's water supply had returned to normal levels.The order to conserve water allows residents to flush toilets, bathe, drink and cook but outdoor water use is not permitted.A tanker at Isaac Regional Library has extra water available.Clermont has a population of about 4,000 people. (ABC News: Nathan Morris)The council thanked residents, who had almost halved their water usage by Tuesday afternoon.Town water consumption dropped to 15.4 litres per second, down from almost 30 litres per second on Monday afternoon.Clermont resident Liz Slattery commended the council's fast response but said some locals were finding the ongoing issues "frustrating"."We've been pretty much on restrictions for the last few months or more because of ongoing issues," she said."The amount we pay for our water rates is huge so there are a few people that are probably a bit antsy about it."The council said water levels in its storages increased by 15 per cent this morning.Another update is expected this afternoon.Ongoing water woesIt is the latest in a run of water infrastructure failures across the Isaac region, where multiple areas have had to truck in water in recent months.Clermont residents were warned to conserve water last month after a failure at the town's water treatment plant.An independent audit commissioned by council found the town got down to 7.5 hours of supply on August 9 and the town has been at varying levels of water restrictions since.The audit found multiple possible causes for the treatment plant failure.It said a treatment system reaching its solids-handling limit was a dominant factor.The report noted council had no documented plan for a water supply or treatment failure but it commended the efforts of staff in preventing a full loss of supply.It made 26 recommendations to the council to prevent future incidents including reviewing the drinking water quality management plan and developing site-specific contingency plans.Isaac Mayor Kelly Vea Vea is yet to say which recommendations council would implement.Kelly Vea Vea has commended residents' efforts at conserving water. (ABC Tropical North: Liam O'Connell)Elsewhere in the local government area, the town of Carmilla has had varying levels of water restrictions since May because of water infrastructure issues.Another treatment plant problem in Moranbah in August led to week-long water restrictions there.A supply system leak has caused ongoing water restrictions in St Lawrence.The council said all those issues were unrelated."The water restrictions saga is definitely ongoing," Ms Vea Vea said yesterday."We have eight water treatment plants, six waste water treatment plants that are aging as well, so it's definitely an issue that we need to address."More rural restrictionsOther regional Queensland communities are also experiencing challenges with water infrastructure.Charters Towers, 100 kilometres south-east of Townsville, will enter level 4 water restrictions for one month from October 6, while a pipeline is upgraded.Charters Towers acting mayor Kate Hastie said only one reservoir could be operational during that time.