The Journey from Catchment to Tap
The water journey begins in the catchment when the clouds burst and the rain falls.
The rain water flows directly into the creeks and rivers and also soaks into the earth creating ground water. The ground water trickles into the creeks and rivers and helps to keep them flowing, even during times of drought.
Hastings Council pumps water from the Hastings River at Koree Island (5km south-west of Wauchope). The Koree Island Pumping Stations have a combined capacity to pump 120 Mega Litres (ML) per day into the Rosewood Reservoirs.
To care for the environment, Council does not pump water if river flows fall below minimum environmental levels. These levels are required to protect the river's ecosystem, including fish, platypuses and aquatic plants.
A fully automated Aqua Lab at Koree Island monitors the river water and automatically shuts off the pumps if water quality drops.
The water in the Rosewood Reservoir is gravity fed to the 10,000 ML Cowarra and 2,500 ML Port Macquarie Off-Creek Storage Dams. The water is treated naturally with sunlight and fresh air in the dams.
Water from the Port Macquarie Dam is pumped to reservoirs throughout the Hastings. A small dose of chlorine is added to ensure that the water remains fresh as it travels through the pipes and to your taps.
Hastings River: protecting the Hastings River
We all have a part to play in helping to conserve water and to protect our primary water source, the Hastings River.
The water in our dams is pumped from the Hastings River at Koree Island (5km south-west of Wauchope).
Water is only pumped from the river if the flow exceeds minimum environmental levels. These levels are required to protect the river's ecosystem, including fish, platypuses and aquatic plants.
Council is committed to helping people understand the importance of conserving our precious water resource. It runs free Water Supply Tours and WaterWise Displays.
If we all take shorter showers we can help to reduce the demand on water in the Hastings River. Together we can ensure that the beautiful Hastings River continues to be a source of fresh water for generations to come.
Dams
The Hastings has two off-creek storage dams that can store 12,500 mega litres (ML) of water.
The smaller of the two, the Port Macquarie Dam, holds 2,500 ML. The Port Dam was completed in 1978 and is located on Ocean Drive in Port Macquarie.
The 10,000 ML Cowarra Off-Creek Storage Dam is located 5km southeast of Wauchope. The Cowarra Dam is 92% full. When it is full, the Cowarra Dam will help to ensure a drought-secure water supply for the Hastings.
Ironically, the Cowarra Dam was completed during a drought in 2001 which continued until 2004.
The Highest Quality Water on Tap
Constant testing and monitoring ensures that both the Hastings town and village water supplies are crystal clear.
The town water supply is pumped from the Hastings River at Koree Island and is stored in the Port Macquarie and Cowarra Off-Creek Storage Dams. 
Water samples from seven creeks that flow into the Hastings River are tested regularly. The Hastings River water is constantly monitored at Koree Island's fully automated Aqualab.
If water quality drops, the pumps are automatically switched off. This ensures that only clean and pure water makes it into our dams.
The Comboyne, Long Flat and Telegraph Point village water supplies are pumped from the Thone River, Hastings River and Wilson River respectively. All three villages have brand new water treatment plants which use microfiltration to produce the highest quality of water.
The advanced microfiltration process is similar to that used in mineral water bottling facilities. The micro-filtres remove particles and organisms as small as 0.1 micron to produce crystal clear water.
The water treatment plants are fully-automated and continuously monitor the quality of water that they produce.
Both the village and town water supplies continue to be monitored as it makes it way from the dams and reservoirs to homes and businesses around the Hastings.
There are more than 50 monitoring taps around the Hastings and 130 samples are taken and tested every month.
To ensure that our testing techniques are accurate, some of the water samples are also sent to Newcastle to be tested. The results are then compared with the test results from our Water Testing Laboratory in Port Macquarie.
