WHILE farmers were celebrating Monday's rain for how it helps their farm, the region's water carriers were celebrating the downpour for a different reason: a well-earned break.

With a total of 33mm falling over the past four months, including a meagre 12.4mm across August and September, water carriers found themselves as popular as rock stars.

So the rain was a welcome relief.

"It was the first morning I've had a sleep-in in about seven weeks,” Anthony Hunter said.

"The phones have sort of stopped ringing.”

The owner of Mary Valley Water said his ring-tone had been on constant repeat over the past few months, averaging "about 150 calls every day”.

It left him fighting to keep up with demand.

"I couldn't answer it,” he said.

He called it the busiest he had been in his four years working in the industry, and was about five days behind when the skies finally opened up.

Mr Hunter was not the only one looking forward to taking a break thanks to the rain.

Stolzenberg Water Carriers' owner Rodney Payne was also eager for the chance to step back from the hectic pace.

"Now we can have some holidays,” he said.

Mr Payne said his company had been "running four trucks a day” flat

out to meet the demand, with staff members often working long hours and through the night

to deliver.

"That was cruel,” he said.

He said the past few months had been one of the highest volumes of water his company had ever delivered.

He was glad some rain had finally arrived, and hoped more would be on the way.

If not, though, he asked people to please check their tanks, and be considerate if they had to place an order as staff were already under the pump to deliver across the region.

"They think they're the only ones who have run out of water,” he said.

Gympie residents can also collect up to 1000L at Gympie Regional Council's water fill station at Archery Park on Cross St. Payment is via a coin slot and costs one dollar per two hundred litres, no change given.