Dairy specialist comes to aid of council needing water relief
There’s nothing milk-and-water about a task being undertaken by SRH Milk Haulage for the Armidale Regional Council in New South Wales to cart water to the drought-stricken Guyra area.
The Malpas Dam to Guyra pipeline is being fast tracked for completion in mid-August and will enable to supply Guyra during extended dry periods, where water levels currently sit at 27 per cent.
In the meantime, council contracted SRH Milk Haulage to transport water from the Armidale Water Treatment Plant.
Trucks will initially deliver 1.2 megalitres of water each week to the Guyra treatment plant, council says, supplementing the town water supply to households and commercial customers.
As the name suggests, SRH Milk Haulage specialises in moving dairy products, but company compliance manager Blair Harvey tells ATN this current deal comes at an opportune time.
“We had some spare tankers sitting around – with the cooler weather and drought conditions [affecting the dairy industry] we saw an opportunity.”
She explains that as the company operates food-grade tankers, a good internal clean makes it possible to easily move liquids such as milk, water and juice.
“We usually help farmers out, taking out water to them in dryer conditions, but this is our biggest water job,” Harvey adds.
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At the moment, two single trailers and B-doubles will move roughly around three to four loads per day while the pipeline is being constructed.
“It became clear Guyra’s current water shortage, and the town’s rate of consumption, will leave the town without water before the pipeline is completed and fully operating,” Armidale Regional Council Mayor Simon Murray says, even with the region set for Level 5 restrictions.
“Transporting the water by truck will ease the crisis but it is not a cheap process and we have sought funding from the state government to assist. Our understanding is that funding will be provided.
“In the meantime, we need to get the water carting started to ensure Guyra has sufficient supplies to cover the time expected to take to complete the pipeline and allow for any delays in getting the pipeline operational.”
Local media reports the NSW Government signed off on about $1 million worth of funding for the operation.