For the area served by the Myall Street Reservoir, which is North Dubbo, the Boil Water Notice will remain in place while reservoir cleaning and further sampling are undertaken.

Water should be boiled for at least one minute before consumption by humans or pets.

Do not swallow water when showering and do not use to prepare food that will not be cooked.

The water may still be used for watering the garden.

Although there have been improvements observed overall since testing began, Council will continue to work with NSW Health to ensure the system has returned to normal before the boil water alert is lifted.

If you are unsure if you are affected by the Boil Water Alert please contact Dubbo Regional Council Customer Services on (02) 6801 4000 before close of business. A map of the affected area is available at www.dubbo.nsw.gov.au.

Council apologises for any inconvenience.

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A boil water alert for parts of Dubbo has angered residents this week, but not everyone is critical of Dubbo Regional Council.​

Contaminants were detected in the water supply last Thursday, with council issuing the boil water alert for North, Central and South Dubbo on Monday.

Speaking to the Daily Liberal on Thursday, Grapevine Cafe owner Tim Houghton was glad to see the boil water alert lifted for South and Central Dubbo.

But he didn’t blame council for the contamination, instead saying “they did a good job”.

“For me it wasn’t that big a deal. I just went out and bought bottled water,” he said.

“We bought bottled water in for our customers because we wanted them to feel confident it was safe.

“We knew it wouldn’t last forever.”

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The first sample containing low levels of E. coli was taken last Tuesday, a Dubbo Regional Council timeline has revealed.

Previously the council had said it detected E. coli in North Dubbo’s water supply last Thursday before issuing a boil water notice on Monday.

The timeline shows the sample which returned a positive result last Thursday had actually been collected two days earlier. The delay was the time it took for the sample results to come back.

It means residents in South, Central and North Dubbo could have been consuming contaminated water since last Tuesday – two days longer than previously thought.

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Dubbo Regional Council Director of Technical Services Stewart McLeod advises that the area affected by the Boil Water Notice has been reduced after extensive investigations and testing were carried out to identify and isolate the contamination.

“Council, in consultation with NSW Health, are pleased to say that the reticulated water supply system for South and Central Dubbo can now be declared normal,” Mr McLeod said.

“The Boil Water Notice is still in place for North Dubbo as inspections conducted on Wednesday afternoon at the Myall Street Reservoir discovered evidence of birdlife. Roosting birds and nests in reservoirs are known to cause contamination of this kind.

“For the area served by the Myall Street Reservoir, which is North Dubbo, the Boil Water Notice will remain in place while reservoir cleaning and further sampling are undertaken.

“Staff have been following anti-contamination procedures since last Thursday when the first failed water sample was received, with low levels of E. coli detected,” Mr McLeod said.

“After a second, low level read of  E coli came through over the weekend, the same actions were continued and an inspection of the reservoir took place.”

“Further sampling was conducted on Sunday, and a teleconference was held with NSW Health on Monday morning at which a Boil Water Notice was put in place while investigations continued,” Mr McLeod said.

“Although there have been improvements observed overall since testing began, Council will continue to work with NSW Health to ensure the system has returned to normal before the boil water alert is lifted.

“I would like to reiterate that the processes that have been followed by Council during this period reflect the best practice of the industry and will continue to do so, and we appreciate your patience as we work to rectify this situation.”

For more information and an updated map of the affected area, please visit Council’s website www.dubbo.nsw.gov.au or contact Council’s Customer Service team on 6801 4000.

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Community views on the water scare have poured into social media with many residents questioning or criticising handling of the issue.

Click here for our pick of the comments posted to the Daily Liberal’s Facebook page.

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Dubbo Hospital has increased its orders of bottled water, antibacterial hand wash and disposable bed bath kits in response to the contaminant in the city’s water supply.

Read more…

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Water contamination in parts of Dubbo’s water supply is hurting local businesses, according to Dubbo Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Matt Wright.

The community was alerted to the contamination on Monday when Dubbo Regional Council issued a boil water notice for parts of North, Central and South Dubbo.

It urged people to use boiled or bottled water for human and animal consumption and personal hygiene, after the council detected E. coli and other coliforms in parts of the water supply in North Dubbo on Thursday.

About 3300 properties, including hundreds of businesses, have been affected by the notice.

“Every business, I would assume, has incurred some sort of additional cost,” Mr Wright said.

Read more…

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The city’s water problems have been elevated into the State political arena.

NSW Labor weighed in on the detection of E. coli and coliforms in parts of Dubbo’s water supply.

In State Parliament on Tuesday, NSW Labor asked Water Minister Niall Blair questions without notice about the time taken to alert 3,300 properties about the possible contamination of their drinking water.

Read more…

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Dubbo’s boil water notice is having flow-on affects outside the city, with Narromine Coles also getting low on bottled water on Tuesday.

“We were down a bit yesterday because we sent some [bottled water] off to Dubbo on Monday afternoon,” manager Matthew Edwards said on Wednesday.

“But we’ll be restocked today.”

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Dubbo Regional Council (DRC) has moved to douse community alarm over a recent E. coli reading in part of the city’s water supply.

It said it had consulted with NSW Public Health and gastrointestinal presentations at Dubbo Hospital were below seasonal and annual trends.

Elsewhere the city’s schools were handling the situation, supermarkets were shipping in bottled water by the pallet and one of the city’s businesses had temporarily closed its doors.

The council issued a Boil Water Notice for parts of North, Central and South Dubbo on Monday after E. coli and coliforms were detected in the water supply late last week.

DRC director technical services Stewart McLeod insisted council followed normal protocol.

“By about 7.30 last [Monday] night a notice had been put in the mailbox of every affected property,” he said.

“And before closing time yesterday [Monday] a couple of our staff went to every shop in the CBD and delivered one of those notices and spoke to whoever was behind the counter.

He said the schools and preschools in the affected areas were given verbal alerts “first thing” on Monday morning, while the Department of Health had immediately notified Dubbo Hospital.

“We're happy that we’ve done what’s reasonable,” Mr McLeod said.

“Some people have said we should have door-knocked every house but you couldn’t get to all the houses in time.

“We did the best we could.”

But people have struck out at council on social media, fearing residents had been consuming contaminated water since late last week.

“So it was detected last week but they just continue to let people and animals drink the contaminated water until Monday when they decide to alert the public about it,” Ness Snowden wrote.

“I think that is a disgrace on the Dubbo regional councils behalf shame on them.”

“I agree, This should have been told to people earlier, mothers with Children and Babies would be worried sick along with all the people it has affected,” Margaret Hislop wrote.

“Sorry council but you are in the wrong !!!”

Council continues to investigate the cause of the E. coli readings.

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There has been much confusion around the map of areas affected by Monday’s Boil Water Notice.

Speaking to the Daily Liberal on Tuesday, Dubbo Regional Council director technical services Stewart McLeod clarified how to read the map if you live on a boundary line.

“If you are in the coloured bit, if you are on that side of the road you’re affected,” he said.

“If you are on the other side of the road, you’re not affected.

“If both sides of the street are affected then we have drawn the lines down the back of the houses, rather than on the road.”

If you are still unsure whether the Boil Water Notice applies to you, check your mailbox.

Council staff had delivered flyers to every affected household by 7.30pm on Monday, Mr McLeod said. So if you don’t have a flyer then drink away!

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Dubbo Regional Council will not discount rates for those affected by the Boil Water Notice, director technical services Stewart McLeod said.

Speaking to the Daily Liberal on Tuesday, Mr McLeod said the council had distributed bottled water to 19 “sensitive customers” on Monday.

“We have identified 19 sensitive customers and they’re schools, preschools, retirement villages, nursing homes and any community which we consider a bit sensitive,” he said.

“They are who we have provided water to.”

He said those customers would continue to receive water from council for the duration of the Boil Water Notice.

But council is “not in the business of providing bottled water to every resident”, he said.

A total of 3300 properties are affected by the Boil Water Notice, which was issued on Monday after council detected E. coli and coliforms in the water supply in North Dubbo.

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Dubbo Regional Council’s director of technical services Stewart McLeod has denied council was wrong to wait until Monday to issue a Boil Water Notice.

Council detected E. coli and coliforms in the water supply in North Dubbo “late last week”, but did not begin to inform affected residents until Monday.

Mr McLeod said the reason for the delay was so council could retest the water.

“That was the normal protocol,” he said.

“You don’t immediately assume that a positive result for a sample failure means that it did fail. You always re-sample and double-check because a lot of times the first sample failure is because of a sampling error.

“It’s much more common that a failed sample is a false positive than a real positive and if you [issue an alert for every positive test] you get a lot of people worried for no reason.”

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Dubbo Regional Council advises that the Boil Water Notice in place for North Dubbo, west of the railway line, and Central and South Dubbo west of Fitzroy Street is still in place as a precautionary measure.

“Council is working in collaboration with NSW Public Health to resolve the situation as soon as possible,” Director Technical Service Stewart McLeod said.

“Council has implemented anti-contamination methods such as increasing the level of chlorine and are continuing to flush the reticulation pipes in the Myall Street Reservoir Zone and is continuing to monitor water quality.”

“Council is sending samples of the water to NSW Public Health and as soon as two samples come back clear the notice will be lifted.”

“Dubbo Regional Council has world-class water treatment facilities that are capable of detecting miniscule amounts of contaminants during testing- the Boil Water Notice released yesterday is a precautionary measure only and issued in the interest of public safety.”

Water should be boiled for at least one minute before consumption by humans or pets.

Commercial electric kettles with automated shut off do not achieve a rolling boil for the required time frame and should not be used for this procedure.

The best way to achieve a rolling boil is by bringing water to boil in a saucepan and have it bubbling for at least a minute.

Do not swallow water when showering and do not use to prepare food that will not be cooked.

The water may still be used for watering the garden.

This advice should be followed until the Notice is lifted. Council apologises for any inconvenience.

Council’s website will be updated with ongoing advice on the situation.