The WAG Apex Waterfall in Central Park was not flowing for three weeks, but not because of drought.
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The waterfall was turned off prior to water restrictions coming into place.
However, Allen Valentine, president of the Wingham Advancement Group, did check with MidCoast Council that the waterfall could operate during water restrictions.
"The waterfall has a submerged 1250 litre tank buried under the garden and it's on a closed loop so the water just circulates continuously and we don't waste any water," Allen explained.
The waterfall had been turned off so repairs could be made.
"The problem was we had water getting in behind the blue render through hydrostatic fluid motion and, as people would have noticed, the rendering was therefore swelling and bubbling and was either bursting or being picked off by little people," Allen said.
"It looked really ugly."
To fix the waterfall it first needed to dry out completely, hence the pump being turned off. The joints were cut back and exposed, then filled with silicon sealer, which was also used on every step and every vertical surface. The render was taken back to bare brick and multiple coats of sealer applied before the paint was reapplied to the structure. Allen sought advice from Taree Paint and Paper before commencing repairs.
All repairs were paid for and done by volunteers from WAG.
"It was a long process but it was necessary to ensure the whole thing was sealed so water didn't get inside and blister it all again and make it ugly," Allen said.
"It's all sealed now and we turned the water on September 3 and it looks good."
The garden around the waterfall has also had a rough time. Earlier in the year MidCoast Council had mistakenly taken out a lot of the herbs thinking they were weeds. And although Allen had planted around 200 marigolds, only around 100 have survived.
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"We've had crickets or locusts or grasshoppers, we've had slugs, we've had little people, and recently we've had ravens!" Allen said, explaining the ravens had been beheading the marigolds due to some "perverted habit" they have.
"There's a lot of bare patches there so I've got yet another tray that are well overdue for planting."
Ever conscious of saving water, Allen has also been watering each individual plant by hand.
"Not spraying it on, dribbling each individual marigold and herb every three days even before the water restrictions. We've been doing our bit before it even started," he said.