Mareeba Water Outage at 10pm – 10 December 2024

A new water main break has been identified at Constance Street this morning.  The water main has temporarily been patched however emergency repairs will be required tonight (10 December 2024) and water supply will be interrupted at 10pm for approximately two hours. Thank you to the community for your patience as we work towards restoring the water network.

Why have we experienced water main breaks?

After a long period of very dry conditions, Mareeba received nearly 100mm of rain last week. This sudden change in the soil conditions shifted the ground and caused a split in the aged cast iron water main early Friday morning at the Constance Street and Basalt Street intersection.

To repair this section of pipe, Council had to turn off the water supply at this location and much of Mareeba was without water from approximately 7.30am to 11am on Friday.

Once the water supply was restored, the change in pressure, going from zero to normal pressure, led to new breaks for other aged cast iron water mains – in Walsh Street, Couper Street and unfortunately, another break near Constance Street and Basalt Street intersection on Friday evening / early Saturday morning.

To repair the new break at Constance Street and Basalt Street intersection, the water had to be isolated at this location and the repair was completed around 1.30pm Saturday afternoon.

Future rainfall may lead to further water main breaks during the wet season.

What is Council’s plan?

Some of the water infrastructure in Mareeba is over 60 years old and Council has been strategically replacing and upgrading the water network to ensure essential services are maintained as part of Council’s Water Strategy. The Strategy identified approximately 90km of water mains across the Shire that need to be replaced over the next 30 years and could cost up to $100 million.

We are currently six years into the plan to renew the water network in Mareeba, with approximately 22km of water mains replaced throughout Mareeba Shire since 2019 at a cost of approximately $7 million. To help fund these works, Council increased the annual water access charge by $196 per connection for residents in the 2021/22 budget and actively applies for grants.

Council is planning to announce awarding the tender for the next round of funding for water main repairs in Mareeba following the December Council Meeting.

What should residents do if they experience a water outage?

The first point of action if a resident or business has lost water should be to check Mareeba Shire Council’s website for water service interruptions.

For major outbreaks, Council will put a notice on their Facebook page and will update the call centre message to advise callers of the outage.

If it looks like the outage has not been reported, please contact Council on 1300 308 461.

It is important to ensure emergency kits at home contain fresh drinking water. While water main breaks are rare, they can occur without warning, so it is important to be prepared.