Nimbin Water Supply - Pipeline Replacement Project

About the Project

The water supply to Nimbin town is from Mulgum Creek, where water is drawn from a weir at the top of Gungas Road. This water is chlorinated and delivered by gravity to the DE Williams Dam. The water is stored in the dam, re-chlorinated and pumped to the Nimbin Reservoir to provide water for the residents of Nimbin town as required.

The supply pipeline from the weir was severely damaged during the February 2022 natural disaster. This resulted in approximately 4km of pipeline and road being destroyed, negatively impacting the supply to DE Williams Dam. The damaged pipeline directly supplied approximately 80 properties in Nimbin town.

The immediate works which were put in place as a temporary measure to quicken constructability and secure water supply post flood event, will now be replaced with a permanent solution, that being 200mm diameter pipe to ensure hydraulic capacity is maintained.

When will works begin?

The project has commenced, with hydraulic assessment and options assessment completed. Construction is expected to take place from October 2022 – March 2024 (indicative only- subject to weather, contractor and materials availability.) This will be followed by further testing and commissioning.

Will there be water outages?

As the current pipe is smaller than the old pipe, water flow is limited. Similar to how too many cars on one road can slow traffic and cause a traffic jam, forcing too much water through a pipe can cause the pressure to drop, leading to outages. To keep the village of Nimbin supplied with water, the dam’s inlet valve must occasionally be fully opened. As this lets a large amount of water through the pipeline in a very short period of time, temporary pressure loss and outages may occur.

To minimise the inconvenience for our rural customers, we limit this dam filling process to between 10 pm and 5 am. Due to the size of the dam, filling is quite a slow process, and can last for several weeks at a time. During this time, rural customers may be more prone to off-peak water outages. In the unlikely event that water outages occur outside of these hours, rest assured that Council is aware and working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

The permanent replacement pipe being installed this year, will minimise potential water outages.

Where can I find further information?

Further information and updates will be available via the 'Community Updates' tab of this page.

Additionally, to receive updates directly please contact Lismore City Council via email council@lismore.nsw.gov.au or call (02) 6625 0500 to register your details and feedback. Please reference ‘Nimbin Water Supply’ in your correspondence.

We thank the community for their patience as we continue to work through the consequences of this unprecedented event.