Published on Tuesday, 18 August 2026 at 2:53:28 PM
The Shire of East Pilbara’s new Community Water Trailer dispensed 469 litres of free chilled drinking water at the 2026 Outback Fortescue Festival – the equivalent of avoiding 938 single-use plastic bottles.
Across the two-day Festival at Capricorn Oval, the trailer dispensed 469 litres of free chilled drinking water.
Wallop Water’s post-event sustainability report calculated this was equivalent to 938 single-use plastic bottles avoided and approximately 610 kilograms of CO₂ emissions avoided through the manufacture and transport of bottled water.
The report also calculated that around 1,407 litres of manufacturing water and 117 litres of crude oil were saved, along with more than half a pallet of bottled water and the freight associated with transporting it to Newman.
The Community Water Trailer was funded by BHP, hosted by the Shire of East Pilbara and supplied and operated by Wallop Water.
Shire President Cr Anthony Middleton said the Festival provided a strong first demonstration of what the trailer could achieve at community events.
“Having free chilled drinking water available throughout the Festival was a practical benefit for everyone there, but now we can also see the environmental impact that came with it,” Cr Middleton said.
“Nearly 470 litres of water were dispensed across the weekend, which meant hundreds of individual plastic bottles didn’t need to be bought, transported all the way to Newman and then dealt with as waste afterwards.
“For a remote community like ours, reducing waste and reducing the amount of bottled water that needs to be freighted in both make sense.
“I want to thank BHP for funding the trailer and Wallop Water for working with the Shire to bring it to Newman. It was great to see it being so well used at its first major event.”
The trailer uses onboard telemetry to record water consumption and track sustainability outcomes at Shire events.
Wallop Water’s report recorded peak usage of 43 litres in one hour during the Festival, with water demand increasing as temperatures rose.
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