Source : Perth Now news
Residents in the Queensland town of Hughenden are increasingly buying bottled water as the community grapples with foul-smelling, discoloured tap water caused by ageing bores and worn-out infrastructure.
The problem reflects a broader water crisis across Queensland, with locals still facing years of delays before major upgrades are complete.
Maree Christensen, who runs a local grocery store, told ABC’s 7.30 many residents now avoid drinking from the tap altogether.
“They’re choosing to buy water rather than drink out of the tap due to the smell, taste and colour,” Ms Christensen told the program.
She said her store sells more than 800 litres of water a week, with some families buying four to six 10-litre bottles at a time.
“You have families come in and buy anywhere from four to six of the 10-litre (bottles) a week,” she said.
“Three to six times a day (we) top up the shelves. It’s just an ongoing process.”
The town’s water troubles have also forced at least one local cafe to rely entirely on bottled water, including for coffee machines.
Flinders Shire Mayor Kate Peddle told 7.30 the problem has dragged on for years, with old bores and ageing infrastructure leaving the council stuck patching breakdowns instead of getting ahead of them.
“I’ve run the bath to put my kids in, and it’s been brown,” Ms Peddle said.
“There is some regard in communities where we are resilient and there are expectations that we’re not going to have the same services as everybody else. I don’t think water should be one of them.”
Many of Hughenden’s bores are older than their expected 60-year service life. One of the oldest was built in 1902, and replacing individual bores can cost about $1 million each.
Ms Peddle said the council keeps putting money aside for repairs, but the task is too big to tackle bit by bit.
“We’re sort of fixing the problems, but we’re not getting ahead of it because we can’t be proactive in the planning to replace, because we’re always replacing what’s broken,” she said.
The issue stretches far beyond one town. A Local Government Association report found urgent water infrastructure works across Queensland would cost more than $5 billion.
Queensland Water chief executive Dr Georgina Davis told 7.30 the state is facing an infrastructure crisis, with many systems built decades ago now well past their intended life.
“In Queensland we lost permanent funding for water infrastructure back in 2009 and councils since then have not had any money to really invest in new capital works even though we knew everything was becoming older,” Ms Davis said.
Despite the long-running problems, Hughenden’s population is expected to rise by 50 per cent over the next six years as it becomes a major hub for the CopperString project.
That growth has helped secure $20 million in state funding for a new water treatment plant, though construction will take several years and more upgrades are still needed.
Until then, many Hughenden residents will keep doing what they believe is safest: buying their drinking water by the bottle.
