And some are not happy about it.

The seriousness of the town’s drinking water crisis was confirmed with an unprecedented mailout by Power and Water this week.

The letters detail the occupant’s water use over the past year – green text for water savings, red text for increased water use.

“Some of us find it intrusive,” one resident, who shared her letter but did not want her name or address revealed, said today.

“What next, they are going to knock on the door and tell us they are turning our water off.

“We pay for it, the same as everyone else.”

The dilemma for water authorities is the rising use of water in Katherine now we have entered the hotter buildup weather.

A string of 40 degree days is forecast for Katherine over the next week.

Power and Water has warned the town is dangerously close to using more water than can be safely treated to remove PFAS chemicals.

A bigger treatment plant capable of removing PFAS from all the town’s water still has not been ordered and is still at least a year away.

Katherine has been on water restrictions now for more than a year because of the PFAS contamination in the water bores used to supplement the river supplies at the treatment plant.

Residents risk triggering stricter restrictions beyond the odds and evens system which currently applies.

No outside watering is allowed at all in Katherine on Fridays.

Most bills from utility companies include information about past water or power use.

The letter from Power and Warning was not included with any bill.

The letters are a first for Power and Water in terms of mailing them out to a whole community, a spokeswoman said today

“We feel they are a good way to:

·        make individual users aware of the great whole of community water use reduction that has been achieved to date

·        help direct people to take advantage of available rebates

·        open discussion about water use and how we can assist with reducing it

·        target all sectors of the community, residential, commercial and government alike.

“We have shared water use comparisons with individual high water using properties (schools, hotels etc.) previously and found it to be an effective way to help people understand how their water use fits within the whole community. It has enabled conversations about water use and where water may unintentionally being wasted.

“The majority of customers’ water use is down compared with last year, which is really pleasing.”

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