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THE Douglas Shire faces a critical period regarding water supplies and Douglas Shire Council said they should have a better idea later today whether residents will be required to boil their water before drinking it.

Council said in a statement that water supplies have ‘reached critical levels’ as the region’s water treatment plants struggle to keep up with the continued rainfall. 

A spokesperson for Council said clean water supply was running low and the water treatment plant was unable to treat dirty water.

Water supply to Port Douglas is at 16% capacity and is only expected to last another five hours at current usage rates.

“The recent deluge has caused sand and debris to block the intakes. These high turbidity levels slow down the water treatment process, required to make clean and safe water,” the spokesperson said.

“Water can't be added to the supply if it is not clean and safe.”

Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality.

If the situation has not improved by later today, raw water will go into the water supply and water from taps will need to be boiled before drinking. 

Mayor Julia Leu said the situation was urgent.

“Everyone must put their hoses away and stop using large amounts of water," she said.

“This is a serious situation and cleaning mud is not urgent. Every single resident has a responsibility to save our water supply. We do not want to reach a point where no one has access to clean water for several days, but this is where we are heading.”

In the 24-hour cycle from 9am Sunday to Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology reported that Port Douglas received 593mm of rainfall, the highest in the state.

Have you ever seen rain like this in your lifetime? Let us know in the comments below.

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