Not Unsafe – Only Risk of Being Unsafe Too High

IN a letter drop to some Scone businesses today, the Council explained their advice to boil all drinking water “does not mean the water is unsafe – only that the risk of it being unsafe is too high.”

In an update on their website this afternoon Council confirmed the Scone water supply does not have a treatment plant, filtration or UV process capable to treat the algae outbreak at the Dam or turbidity issues with water from lower points of the Dam, but is planning to make upgrades over the next 12 months to few years.

Currently, only chlorine is used to kill organic matter in the water, but the turbidity of the water supply has exceeded levels for chlorine to be relied to be effective for safe drinking standards.

Microbiological analysis of the water has not shown any organic matter to be above safe limits, such as the presence of algae.

The water pipeline from Aberdeen to Scone will be reactivated, however there will be less volume of water available from the Hunter River and water restrictions may be considered.

It is expected that residents will need to boil water for several weeks.

Further advice from Council included:

• recent rainfall caused an outbreak of blue green algae at Glenbawn Dam and on February 26 Council began drawing water from the lowest water level offtake;
• water from the lower level offtake had higher turbidity, which has increased in Scone’s reservoirs and reticulation system;
• currently there is no modern treatment or filtration system on Scone’s water supply;
• Council is planning to implement UV disinfection and additional pre-chlorination treatment upgrades in the next 12 months;
• Council is planning to construct a water filtration plant for Scone, but this may take some years;
• currently the only treatment available to Council for the water supply is chlorine;
• chlorine can only effectively disinfect water at turbidity of 1NTU (nephelometric turbidity units) and Scone’s is currently 5NTU, compromising the ability for chlorine to kill organic materials in the water supply;
• water quality results have only indicated turbidity as an issue – not the presence of any specific algae at a toxic level or other microbiological agents (as at March 10);
• further water analysis results will be known next week, however regardless of other water quality results if the turbidity still remains high water must continue to be boiled;
• the water pipeline between Aberdeen and Scone will be reactivated, allowing Scone to access water from the Hunter River until water quality at Glenbawn Dam improves;
• additional chlorine will be used at the Scone reservoirs;
• additional water restrictions may be put in place due to the reduced volume of water from the Aberdeen pump station;
• water being carted to Murrurundi, will now come from Aberdeen and
• blue green algae levels in the Dam are decreasing, however not to levels which allow higher water levels to be accessed yet and it could be several weeks.

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Related story:

• Don’t Drink the Tap Water!! – March 13, 2020.