Mount Morgan Water Trucking Hits Target

Published on 20 April 2021

No 7 Dam Feb 2021

A minimum of 20 truckloads of water a day are now being driven from Gracemere to the Mount Morgan Water Treatment Plant, after Rockhampton Regional Council began ramping up an emergency water supply following a drop in the quality of the water in the No. 7 dam.

Rockhampton Region Mayor Tony Williams said residents would now see a marked difference in the taste of the water.

“We know that as the dam level fell the water quality did too, with some residents experiencing a change in taste and smell.

“Since the trucking started a couple of weeks ago the water going to homes in Mount Morgan was a mix of small volumes of treated dam water produced daily by the Mount Morgan Water Treatment Plant, and water transported from Gracemere.

“Now that 20 trucks a day are coming up there will be no more water that’s come from the dam being distributed, and the water coming out of your taps will be entirely from the trucked up drinking water.

“Our trial has really paid off, and we are having no operational issues so far. 21 trucks went up yesterday between 7am and 5pm without a hitch.

“As we’ve said before this is a temporary emergency measure to ensure the residents have access to good quality drinking water, but Council is absolutely committed to finding a long term sustainable solution for Mount Morgan’s water security.”

Water and Environmental Sustainability Councillor Donna Kirkland said that there was no change in how residents accessed the water.

“The water will be taken from Gracemere and then driven up to Mount Morgan, but residents in Gracemere don’t need to worry – we will send more water to the area if needed.

“The water will then be disinfected again just to make sure its quality is still high after the journey, and will then be distributed using the same water distribution system that supplies water to the Mount Morgan community now. You will be able to turn on your taps as normal.

“We know that some people have been choosing to use bottled water instead of tap water, and the great news is that there will be no need to do that anymore.”

Divisional Councillor Cherie Rutherford said Council was working through the questions submitted at the public meeting last week.

“We had a large number of questions and will absolutely be making good on our commitment to publish answers to all of those in next week’s Argus.

“We will also publish them at www.rrc.qld.gov.au/mountmorganwater.

“We will keep speaking with the community as we work through this challenge together, and I look forward to finding a sustainable solution for the long term water security of Mount Morgan.”

Depending on where your property is in the system you may still have small amounts of the already treated dam water for the next couple of days. If you have any issues please call us on 4932 9000.