WATER delivery companies have seen a massive increase in water demand due to a lack of rain.
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Bureau of Meteorology figures show Bendigo has received only 0.6mm of rain this month, and 27.8mm since the start of November.
That’s about four times less rain than the long term average for the same period.
Lynne-Maree Jackson of Waterhaul in Huntly said the company was the busiest it had ever been.
“It’s people with domestic tanks that are struggling,” she said.
“We’d be doing 12 or 13 loads a day of 10,500 litres.
“We didn’t have any real good spring rain and we haven’t had anything since.
“We’ve had people that say they’ve been in their homes for eight years and they’ve never needed water, and now they’re getting it delivered.”
Scott Maslin of Scott’s Water Haulage said it was the busiest he had been in a long time.
“I think it’s going to be like this for a while,” he said. “I can see it going like this for at least two months.”
Vickie Leighton of Leighton Water Deliveries said the need for water was similar to the demand during the drought.
“The last couple of summers have been wet and this year it’s quite dry,” she said.
“We’re very busy.”
One person who sold their delivery business said some companies were booked out two weeks in advance.
But Sky News Weather chief meteorologist said rainfall was predicted to return to normal over the next few months.
“The signals we’re getting from sea surface temperatures indicate an average type rainfall pattern for most of Victoria,” he said.
“No big departures from average can be seen.
“It’s been very, very dry across much of south eastern Australia but the outlook is for an average type rainfall pattern.
“Hopefully we’ll get some more rainfall over the next two to three months.”