Schools including Dubbo North, Dubbo Public and Dubbo South were alerted by council on Monday morning that the water from the taps was not safe for drinking, washing or cooking.

Dubbo North Public School principal Toby Morgan said the school was taking the council alert very seriously and had implemented a number of measures to keep students safe.

“We went and got 10 cartons of water before recess and handed that out, and then council dropped off another 15 cartons at 12.30pm,” he said.

“Unfortunately it has happened on the hottest day of the year so far. We have supplied hand sanitiser for students to wash their hands at the toilets.”

Mr Morgan said the school had enough bottled water to get through Monday and Tuesday, but more would be needed if, as expected, council’s water alert runs later into the week.

“We have 260 students and staff here and we have sent a letter home with students, advising parents in areas that aren’t affected to send their children to school with bottles of water and encouraged others to provide bottled water,” the principal said.

“We have encouraged students to use water sparingly but some of the younger students don’t fully understand.”

Mr Morgan said extra care had to be taken with the younger students to make sure they weren’t drinking or washing using the contaminated water.