<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>More than 150,000 </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/darwin" rel="" target="" title="Darwin "><span>Darwin</span></a><span> residents has been warned not to drink unboiled water after </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/rain" rel="" target="" title="heavy rainfall "><span>heavy rainfall</span></a><span> caused the Darwin River Dam to overflow.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The NT's Department of Health this afternoon urged residents across Darwin and surrounding areas to use cooled boiled water or bottled water for drinking, preparing food and baby formula and brushing teeth.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Those residents were yesterday warned to reduce their water use after heavy rain flooded the Darwin River Dam's pump station and caused it to stop operating around 4.30pm.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/us-israel-attack-iran-anthony-albanese-donald-trump-phone-call-iranian-footballers/4092c0df-f062-46c0-b1d5-ad0dca976579" target="_blank"><strong><span>Trump's praise after late-night call with Albanese</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The NT's water supplier, PowerWater, warned of an "unprecedented situation" after consistent rainfall since the beginning of the year pushed the dam to more than 110 per cent capacity.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is an unprecedented situation and we have never seen this volume of water in the dam before," PowerWater said in a statement yesterday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Our priority is to restore the pump station and associated equipment as quickly as is safely possible and we are investigating operating the dam with generators."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/darwin-river-dam-boil-water-flood-heavy-rain/10bf38f0-63d1-4869-ae6d-e285bde366f3" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>PowerWater asked Darwin residents to reduce their water use while the pump station was being fixed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Simple steps such as shorter showers, turning off your taps and switching off your irrigation can all help," PowerWater said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/technology/new-emojis-released-by-apple-unicode-consortium-rockslide-bigfoot-orcas-trombones/e49989e5-806d-47d2-9bd5-a12dbbf03ed7" target="_blank"><strong><span>Bigfoot, trombone, orca among the latest emojis</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>We have a team of experts working to fix the dam as quickly as is safely possible and thank Territorians for pulling together at this time."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Borefields at McMinns and Howard East have been activated to partially meet demand while the dam's pumping station is out of action.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The boil water alert will be lifted once the dam is back up and running and PowerWater can confirm the water is safe to drink.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Darwin River Dam supplies 85 per cent of Greater Darwin's water.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Severe flooding has gripped the Northern Territory and Queensland for several days, with critically-ill patients evacuated from Katherine Hospital as major flooding engulfs the region.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Aeromedical CareFlight said it transferred seriously ill patients to Darwin and rescued stranded residents to higher ground as the water rose.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rainfall is expected to continue to lash parts of the Top End into the weekend.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 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