Daily Flow &
Consumption Figures

For the Clarence Valley & Nymboida River

Population: Approx. 4,000

Date: Wed, 25 Nov 2009

Flow: 789 ML/Day

Consumption: 21.33 ML

Frequently Asked Questions

Check if your water meter is turned on.
If your water meter is turned on, there may be a burst main in the immediate area.
Check with neighbours to find out if they still have water.
If none have water – contact Clarence Valley Council immediately.

Check if the leak appears to be on the outlet side of the water meter (this is the opposite side of the water meter to the meter tap).
If it is, you need to contact a plumber.
If it is not, contact Clarence Valley Council and let them know if it is major (as much as would come from a hose when it is turned full on) or minor (a small trickle).

Try running the water for a few minutes to check if it will come clean.
If you have already done this and the water is still dirty, contact Clarence Valley Council .
If you have laundry that has been stained by the water, North Coast Water can provide free chemicals to remove the stains. You can request this by phone.
Water supplied by North Coast Water is not filtered at this time. To build a filtration plant would add somewhere in the vicinity of $50 per year to your water account. If you would like this option to be put forward, please contact North Coast Water. In the meantime, mains are flushed on an "as needed" basis which keeps the problem to a minimum. Generally, reports of dirty water are addressed within 24 hours of the report.

If the problem has occurred suddenly, there maybe a break in plumbing.
Check all of your taps to see if it is within your property. If all taps are affected, there may be a nearby mains break – but it could be from an unusually high demand on the system.
Check with neighbours to see if they are experiencing a similar problem.
If the answer is yes, contact Clarence Valley Council immediately.
If no-one else is experiencing the same problem, the break may be within your property.
Check for signs of a leak and contact a plumber. You can turn off all of your taps and check your water meter. If it is still "ticking over", you have confirmed that you have a leak within your plumbing.
If the problem has occurred over time, it is likely to be caused by a corroded tapping band. Contact Clarence Valley Council and the flow will be checked. If it is the tapping band that is causing the problem, it will be replaced at no cost to you.

This is commonly caused by copper corrosion when the water has remained static in the pipes for some time.
If the premises have been unoccupied for a period of time, this may be the cause.
Run the taps to clear the problem. If the problem persists, call Clarence Valley Council.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are responsible for licensing of groundwater. The local contact number for DNR licencing is 02 6640 2114.

Raw water from Nymboida River is initially held in the 100 Megalitre (ML) reservoir at Rushforth Rd, South Grafton, where algae are destroyed by electronic pulse emissions. Sediment is allowed to settle to the bottom, and water is taken from mid level of the 100 ML reservoir to the 32 ML reservoir.
Before the water enters the 32 ML reservoir it is disinfected with a mixture of chlorine and ammonia, a process called chloramination, which is a widely used and accepted process in Australia. Fluoride is also added at this stage, at the rate of one part flouride per million parts water (1ppm). From the 32 ML reservoir the water is transferred into the trunk (pipe) system.

Water samples are collected weekly from over 150 locations throughout the Clarence Valley Council water supply network. These samples are independently tested by the Northern Rivers Area Health Service Laboratory in Lismore as per the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.