Bottled water raises spirits in the Hunter

The ‘season of good will’ arrived early in the Hunter during last year’s drought, when community groups and individuals chipped in to buy 30,000 litres of bottled water for drought-affected farmers.

The “Hunter Water Project” was initiated by NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) drought support workers Tania Chesworth and Caroline Long following concern that farm families had no drinking water other than stock water.

“We embarked on what was to become a huge community project when we discovered that farmers were boiling water from their creeks or dams because their house tanks were dry,” Ms Chesworth said.

“There was always the potential for poor quality water to jeopardise the health of these people, and they already had enough on their plate during one of the worst droughts in history.”

The first port of call was a butcher’s shop in the Lake Macquarie suburb of Rathmines where owner Steve Smith had already indicated he wanted to raise money for drought-affected farmers by selling dog bones.

“Steve used this money to buy water directly from Hunter Springs Water at Thornton, which was delivered in 15 litre bottles to a pick-up-point at the Scone Rural Lands Protection Board (RLPB),” Ms Long said.

“Word soon spread and it wasn’t long before we were arranging deliveries to Merriwa, Singleton and Maitland RLPBs, as well as Denman Dapkos and Murrurundi Community Technology Centre.”

There was an amazing response from the general public after the initiative caught the attention of local media, with Nulkaba Public School holding a ‘drought-a-thon’ which raised close to $4,000 – enough to buy 417 bottles of water.

Ms Chesworth said another interview with Radio 2HD launched the ‘Top-up-a-Tank Appeal’ which led to donations from all over the Valley. 

“Church groups, Rotary Clubs, View Clubs, Tennis Clubs, CWAs, businesses and many individual families chipped in to support this remarkable project,” she said.

“ANZ bank branches in Scone and Muswellbrook used their ‘Blue week appeal’ to raise money for the cause, from which they were able to donate 121 bottles of water.

“The Rotary Club of Denman agreed to manage the money for us and distributed over $6,000 in donations to needy farmers – what an amazing result.”

NSW DPI drought support workers credit the generosity of the community for the 2,018 bottles of water distributed to Hunter farming families during the last year.

“We owe so much to the people who donated money and time to this project and would like to thank them on behalf of the farmers who received the precious bottled water,” they said.

Further information about the Hunter Water Project can be obtained from Tania Chesworth or Caroline Long at the NSW DPI’s Scone office on (02) 6544 4900.