Water pumps fail

Staff and contractors were on site from early Friday to late Saturday to make sure water supply to the town remained safe while installing the emergency pump.

Water tankers from Broadford, Nagambie and Shepparton were used to supplement supply and customers were asked to conserve water and restrict outside water usage.

Planning and assets general manager Daniel Hughes said the issue arose due to concurrent mechanical failure of two large raw water pumps.

‘‘An emergency replacement pump was sourced and sent from Melbourne, with additional parts required from both Melbourne and Shepparton,’’ he said.

‘‘Due to difficult site access and distance to the river, it took some time until the emergency pump was positioned and working at full capacity.

‘‘One small electric pump remained operational throughout the incident, supplying the plant with a low flow, which was enough to retain the reduced supply to towns while the emergency pump was repaired.’’

The failed pumps will be repaired in the coming weeks, with the temporary pumping set-up to remain until that time.

With the temporary set-up operational, there should be no further risk to water supply.

Goulburn Valley Water thanked customers for co-operation throughout the incident.

‘‘We would like to thank everyone for their efforts in reducing water use during the incident,’’ Mr Hughes said.

‘‘Water demand dropped to a level allowing us to focus on fixing the problem, without also worrying about supply falling to low levels.

‘‘The co-operation over the extended period of time, particularly during the heat on Friday, was greatly appreciated.”