Into a place where even townspeople are limited to three-minute showers, and two loads of washing per week, a million litres of water started flowing to farmers yesterday.
Murrurundi area primary producers will share in the deliveries in the coming weeks, and it's been revealed Manilla will be next from November 1.
It's part of a campaign that asks people across Australia to rethink their water use - at a time when, in some areas, it's almost the only thing people can think about.
The project between Finish Australia, National Geographic and Rural Aid aims to highlight and help in the plight of drought-stricken areas.
Murrurundi has been on level 6 water restrictions since mid-2018 and the situation is even more serious for those not on town water, Rural Aid general manager Wayne Thomson said.
"We've hired water tankers pretty much 24/7 now to deliver water as quickly as possible, so they can have that same thing we sometimes take for granted: to be able to turn the tap on and have water come from it," he said.
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"We're going out on farms ... and will deliver to 40 or 50 different farmers, as quickly as we can get it."
The #FinishWaterWaste initiative says people can save up to 40 litres of water if they don't pre-rinse before loading up the dishwasher.
To reward those who pledge to #FinishWaterWaste, Finish Australia has promised to donate up to 6.8 million litres of water to places suffering from drought.
The first deliveries started in the Warwick area in late September.
Upper Hunter Shire mayor Wayne Bedggood thanked the collaborators for the donation to Murrurundi.
"Rural communities know how essential a resource water is," Cr Bedggood said.
"For those on the land, if it doesn't rain there can be no water for crops or livestock, and there can be enormous expense in just maintaining basic household and drinking supply levels."
