New emergency bulk water site opens at Elizabeth Park in Adelaide’s north

A new bulk water collection point will open at Elizabeth Park tomorrow to provide relief to people north of Adelaide who are not on mains water and are in need of emergency supply.

From Saturday 15 March, the new emergency water collection point will open at Yorktown Road, Elizabeth Park, adjacent to the Eastern Park Football Club, to service off-grid households facing delays to deliveries from private water providers.

The new site comes as six new water carting services were accredited by SA Health this week which is expected to ease pressure on existing water carting services.

In response to demand at the existing collection points in the Adelaide Hills, the Brukunga site will close from 7pm tonight, Friday 14 March. Users of the Brukunga site are encouraged to use the nearby Woodside site as an alternative.

Collection points at McLaren Vale, Sandergrove and Woodside are likely to be closed on Saturday due to forecast extreme or catastrophic fire danger conditions in the Mount Lofty Ranges.

Please check the Country Fire Service website for the latest information.

From Monday 17 March, the operating hours at all four collection points - Elizabeth Park, McLaren Vale, Sandergrove and Woodside will be:

• 1 pm to 7pm Monday to Friday
• 7am to 7pm Saturday and Sunday

The number of people using the emergency bulk water collection points will continue to be monitored, and locations and opening hours may change depending on the demand and delivery capacity of water carters.

As of 12 March, about 115 visitors have collected more than 120,000 litres of water from the water collection points since they opened on 6 March.

The emergency water collection points have been established in response to the unprecedented dry conditions and unmet water carting demands in the Hills and Fleurieu region.

The water collection points are for households that are running out - or have run out - of water and are unable to get water delivered by a water carter.

Accredited water carting providers are listed on the SA Health website: Registered drinking water providers | SA Health. Households struggling to get timely water deliveries are encouraged to regularly check the list for new providers or contact carters from adjacent areas if needed.

More information about the emergency bulk water collection points is available at Department for Environment and Water - Home.

Quotes

Attributable to Susan Close

The new Elizabeth Park emergency bulk water collection point will help off-grid households in the regions north of Adelaide, including One Tree Hill, to access emergency domestic water.

This is an emergency response, and we have the flexibility to operate individual sites as required to ensure that we are responding to public demand.

Brukunga is only about 10 minutes away from the collection point at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills, so people in need of emergency water have an alternative option very nearby.