One million residents in Sydney told to conserve water after main explodes at West Ryde Pumping Station
Sydneysiders are on impromptu water restrictions as the city soaks with heavy rain.
Up to a million Sydney residents are facing strict water restrictions after a catastrophic pipe burst at one of the city’s biggest pumping stations in West Ryde.
Exploding pipes have wiped out crucial pumping equipment at the plant, with witness Tina Cho describing the scene as a “West Ryde waterfall” as water burst from the facility.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Water crisis hits a million Sydneysiders
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.For a time, there was even panic that staff may have been hurt or worse. Thankfully, everyone was safe, but Sydney’s water supply was severely compromised.
“A main pot has burst but the pressure on it was really incredible,” Cho said.
The result is less drinking water for a quarter of a million homes across the North Shore, affecting up to a million people from the harbour north to St Ives and west to Rydalmere.
“We isolated the break very quickly but the repairs to the electrical equipment is going to take some time,” Sydney Water CEO Darren Cleary said.
Immediate bans have been put in place, including no watering lawns or gardens, no car washing, and no hosing hard surfaces such as driveways and patios.
Residents are being urged to take shorter showers, half-flush toilets, and critically, not to panic and store water. Authorities are begging people not to fill their bathtubs or buckets.
“Last time we had an outage we didn’t have any water at all,” one concerned resident said.
The impact zone includes some of Sydney’s richest suburbs, with Mosman among them, featuring multimillion-dollar homes and their lush landscaping.
“I think it’s terrible when you’ve got small kids and animals and stuff,” one resident said.
“I’m an art teacher when they want to wash their paintbrushes. There’s no water,” another added.
Sydney Water has assured customers that the water remains safe to drink, but there’s no quick fix or even a hint of when this emergency might be over as the city soaks with evening rain.
Businesses in affected areas like Chatswood, one of nearly 50 suburbs being impacted, are also being told to go easy on water usage.
Crews are working around the clock to fix the problem, with Sydney Water expected to provide another update on Friday. However, authorities are warning this could drag on for days.
Originally published on 7NEWS
