Council working on reservoir repairs

Tamworth Regional Council has advised residents who live near the One Tree Hill Reservoir at Hillvue there will be some increased activity on the site related to efforts to address two issues.

Residents in Reservoir Street received a letter last week about how work will start soon on replacing the roof of the smaller reservoir which was damaged in a storm in December last year.

Tamworth Regional Council Manager Water and Waste Operations, Dan Coe, said while the reservoir was taken out of service following the damage, the six megalitres of water remaining in the reservoir needs to be drained before the roof repairs can start.  

“Due to the water restrictions in place for Tamworth, Council plans to use this water in a variety of ways including road construction, dust suppression and at Council parks and reserves including the Tamworth Regional Botanic Gardens,” he said.

“Water tankers have now started transporting the water from the reservoir to other sites on a regular basis during work hours. 

“We wrote to residents to let them know they will notice the water tankers in use with the removal of this water expected to take about eight weeks.”

Mr Coe said there is also a slow leak of the larger reservoir at One Tree Hill site being investigated.

“The leak is about 100 millilitres every second – but obviously over time this adds up and we are doing everything we can to find the source of the leak,” he said.

“We have even had specialist divers go into the reservoir but even they were unable to find the leak.

“We assure nearby residents the reservoir is structurally sound and the leak is most likely occurring through a rubber membrane between the wall and floor of the reservoir. It is not unusual for this type of leak to occur in water reservoirs and often the leak stops by itself.”

In the meantime, Council has done some minor earthworks to improve our access to the reservoir and ensure the leak is contained to the reservoir site.

Mr Coe said Council is continuing investigations to find the source of the leak and find the most cost effective solution for repairing it.

“We thank the residents who have contacted us after noticing the leak – we are asking any other residents to be sure and let us know if they see issues in the community to be addressed,” he said.

“It is vital that the entire community plays a role in minimising water use at this time, so it’s great that residents are pointing out issues to us.

“This is considered a high priority, especially since Level 4 Water Restrictions have been put in place two weeks ago for Tamworth, Moonbi and Kootingal.”