General News
14 March, 2025
Questions remain after Nhill water tank bursts
Nhill residents were told to conserve water after one GWMWater's tanks failed on Wednesday, March 12.
The George Street-based low-level water storage burst at about 6.30am, flooding nearby businesses and homes.
The force of the water pushed one parked truck into a nearby yard.
The failure left many Nhill residents on notice to save water for nearly 12 hours.
Ayesha Sedgman, Communications and Engagement Coordinator at GWMWater, said no injuries were reported when the facility was damaged.
The tank held about 1.8 megalitres of water.
Managing director Mark Williams told ABC that the occurrence was a "catastrophic failure".
Customers were instructed to minimise their water usage after receiving a phone message just after 8am on Wednesday, before they were given the all-clear to resume normal usage just after 7pm that night.
Ms Sedgman said that on Wednesday afternoon, the cause of the failure was being investigated, but their focus at the time was to restore services to normal as soon as possible.
"Our emergency crew is working to repair pipe damage and bypass the low-level storage so normal water supply can resume," she said at the time.
"Nhill residents have access to drinking water but have been asked to minimise water while we work to restore services to manage demand."
On Thursday, Mr Williams confirmed the system was connected and running and reassured homeowners that they would not be out of pocket for any damage caused.
He added that the company will also look to rebuild the Nhill facility.
