WATER Corporation says it has been in frequent contact with water carting businesses to explain the pressure they are placing on the water supply scheme in Bullsbrook.

A Water Corporation spokesman said some operators were drawing water excessively, placing at risk the continuity of scheme water supply to Bullsbrook residents.

“Efforts to encourage more responsible and appropriate use of mobile standpipes in and around Bullsbrook have, to date, been unsuccessful,’’ he said.

Water Corporation was responding to Shane Love says Bullsbrook water supply critical (Echo News, March 7) where prior to the March 8 state election The Nationals WA leader said if they got into power they would have to bring forward any plans to increase the supply of water in Bullsbrook due to the lack of water infrastructure in the area.

Mr Love said there are a lot of people who were not on scheme water and rely on occasionally getting a load of water trucked to them to supplement their own water tanks.

“Now the government, shires and cities have enabled this to go on for years so that they approve subdivisions and developments where there is no scheme water,’’ he said.

The Water Corporation said carters had been directed to the nearby scheme at Ellenbrook where there was greater capacity to accommodate their activities.

“Water remains readily available to water carters from access points about five to 10 minutes south of Bullsbrook,’’ the spokesman said.

“There is no material difference in the flow rate between these two schemes when using the correct equipment.’’

But Mr Love said he understood the water standpipes in use were capable of 100 litres a minute or 250 litres per minute depending on which size mobile standpipe carters had.

“What that means is that it adds half an hour for the time it takes (some carters) to fill a truck on what they could do if they were using the setup in Bullsbrook itself so that means people are way behind on waiting times for the delivery of water and could have a 10 or 12-week wait now for water to be delivered,’’ Mr Love said.

Water Corporation said it was committed to working with water carters to ensure their operations were sustainable and did not place at risk supply continuity to those connected to scheme water.

“Scheme water infrastructure remains sufficient to keep pace with planned development in and around Bullsbrook, with additional capacity likely required from 2028,’’ the spokesman said.