On average a family of four can burn through 10,000 litres of water in just four weeks, a fact that has seen the region’s water carrying companies booked out a week in advance and pumping out the hours.
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While farmers are obviously battling the hardest, household water tanks have also been running bone dry in recent times, without a good fall of rain hitting the region in well over six months.
Local water carrier Wayne Smith can’t remember a busier period in his 11 years of business.
“We have got two trucks running and we do anywhere between 12 and 20 jobs a day,” he said.
“We normally deliver on the day, but at the moment we are booked a week in advance, and have been like that for at least the last three months.”
“My regular customers are all booked in advance.”
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Fellow water carter Geoff Silvey from Water On The Run has reported the same.
“We are running water seven days a week at all hours,” he said.
“We might be the only blokes in Tamworth that don’t mind the dry.”
Meanwhile Council’s new Filling Station on Lockheed Street has allowed the carriers to fill up faster, although being open to the public has not come without drama.
“If you come in behind people using the smaller hose to fill small tanks on the back of utes it can take 45 minutes,” Mr Smith said.
“I would like to see one for commercial carriers and one for the public, otherwise it is going to be a disaster.”
While the forecast doesn’t look good for the region in the immediate future, it might be even longer before the water carting business slows back down.
“To fill people’s tanks up we are going to need at least three or four inches of rain, and then a fair bit of follow up rain, so I think we will be busy for a while yet.”
