It follows a week of investigations by council staff into the cause of E. coli detected last Thursday in North Dubbo’s water supply.

“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,” council’s director of technical services Stewart McLeod said.

The announcement was made after extensive investigations and testing were carried out to identify and isolate the contamination.

“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,” Mr McLeod said.

“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.

“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.”

It means residents and businesses serviced by the Newtown Resevoir can return to drinking, serving and cooking and washing with unboiled tap water.

“We don’t have to go and buy it anymore,” said Tim Houghton, whose Grapevine Cafe had been serving free bottled water to customers.

“We don’t have to worry about our ice machine.

“We’re back to using tap water and our customers have been happy.”

But not everyone is ready to trust the water supply.

When the Daily Liberal announced the reduction in the boil water alert area on social media, many were cynical.

“I'm still undertaking the necessary precautions,” Ella Bass commented.

“Same here still boiling water and drinking bottle water for a few extra day,” Cayla Davies wrote.

“I think I will still drink bottled water and boil cooking/drinking water for another day or two!!” Kirsten Shipp commented.

It ends days of confusion for many residents, who were unsure what the alert entailed or whether or not they were affected.

South Dubbo resident Eric Parker lives on a boundary of the area serviced by the Newtown reservoir, and heard about the alert from a family member on Tuesday.

“My grand-daughter...said ‘granddad don’t you drink the water! It’s got something wrong with it...boil the water!’” he said.

On Thursday he learned he was not in the affected area, which is why he hadn’t received a council flyer in his mailbox.

He was not the only person confused by the alert.

“Is it safe to wash your clothes?” one person asked the Daily Liberal on Tuesday.

“Is that our area I can’t [zoom] in,” another wrote on Wednesday.