Townsville residents are being encouraged to continue to use their water wisely following the easing of city-wide water restrictions.
Townsville City Council announced the city would no longer be under Level 2 restrictions, as blue-green algae levels have reduced in recent months.
Mayor Jenny Hill has thanked the community for playing their part and conserving their water.
“Council implemented the Level 2 water restrictions after seeing unprecedented level of algae in Ross River Dam,” Cr Hill said.
“The high levels of blue-green algae required longer treatment times and reduced the volume of water Council could treat and produce for the city.
“The community really stepped up and did its part as we saw a decrease in household water consumption which allowed us to efficiently treat the water and maintain supply to the city.
“Despite the easing of restrictions, we are still encouraging the community to use water wisely and conserve it where they can.
“This means watering on every third day during the cooler times after 5pm and before 8am on designated days and taking the one song shower challenge.
“Every minute less in the shower saves about 5,000 litres of drinking water per person per year.”
Blue-green algae occurs naturally and thrives in warm, stagnant or slow-moving water bodies like those found in North Queensland.
Throughout the year, algal blooms impact Townsville’s rivers, creeks, reservoirs, urban lakes and lagoons.
Water and Resource Recovery General Manager Travis Richards said Council had introduced several initiatives to assist in managing the impact of algal blooms in the dam.
“Work finished on two new water clarifiers for the Douglas Water Treatment Plant earlier this year and combined with Powered activated carbon (PAC) dosing has allowed us to remove more organics from the water,” Mr Richards said.
“New high-tech sensors have allowed us to detect changes in environmental conditions on the dam to aid our response to changes in raw water quality.
“Council has also added pre-chlorination to the raw water supply coming into the Douglas Water Treatment Plant to improve filtration and disinfection.
“Water security is a top priority for Council, and we continue to supply safe and reliable water for residents.”
