Tambar Springs bore to be replaced in time for summer

Councillors voted at the November council meeting to allocate $177,836 for a replacement bore in the town.

One of the village's existing bores had numerous failures in recent months, due to growth build-up on the steel casing wall and a "significant amount of fill (6.8m) ... in the bottom of the bore".

Relining the bore was not an option, according to Gunnedah Shire Council's water services manager Kevin Sheridan.

Mr Sheridan wrote in the November council papers that the main risk to the village's water system was "problems being experienced with bore no. 2 whilst bore no. 1 is offline".

"To reduce the impact of the risk, the pumping equipment from no. 1 bore has been serviced and available, and can be installed in no. 2 bore if required within a short time frame," he wrote.

"Also, all three reservoirs are being kept as full as possible to provide extra reaction time to undertake any potential change out."

The bore will be replaced as soon as the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) has approved the project.

"I think the community of Tambar Springs would be keen to ensure their water supply going into summer," Cr Owen Hasler said at the meeting.

The funds will come out of the Tambar Springs and Gunnedah Water Supply Restricted Asset.

Another $20,000 has also been approved to cover the costs already purchased above the allocated funds in the 2020/21 Tambar Springs Pump Station maintenance budget, and expected future costs of $7,500 from the Tambar Springs and Gunnedah Water Supply Restricted Asset.