Saturday, 14 December 2024
Early results from the additional testing of three bores at Warialda have now been received by Gwydir Shire Council.
Encouragingly, the samples collected from the Saleyard and Gragin Road bores had no detectable levels of PFAS. Town water will now be sourced solely from these bores which will provide PFAS free water to the Town.
Gwydir Shire Mayor Tiff Galvin, General Manager Max Eastcott and Member for Northern Tablelands Brendan Moylan met with Senior Council Staff and representatives from NSW Health yesterday evening to put a plan in place to secure safe drinking water for the Town.
Over the weekend, Council Staff will undertake pipe flushing to assist in removing any residual PFAS from the system. The Council will also continue to issue free bottled water from the Warialda Visitor Information Centre. This includes both Saturday and Sunday from 9 am to 5 pm. Member for Northern Tablelands, Brendan Moylan will be at the Visitor Information Centre on Saturday from 11am – 5pm assisting.
To manage the reduced water supply, Council will introduce water restrictions for the next 5 days. These restrictions will be – no fixed sprinklers to be used only hand-held hoses are permitted.
The bore at Hospital Park was detected as having significant levels of PFAS, this bore has now been isolated and disconnected from the water supply indefinitely.
Additional bores will be tested early next week and will not be used until results are available.
The advice from NSW Health remains unchanged. Drinking town water in Warialda in the short term is unlikely to pose a health risk for residents. However, bottled water is available for people who would prefer to use this for cooking and drinking while the pipes are flushed and the testing on the offline bores continues.
MEDIA: Electorate Office 6772 5552