There's no end in sight for Geurie residents and businesses who have been boiling their water for more than a week now.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
According to Dubbo Regional Council's chief executive officer Murray Wood, samples from the water treatment plant marginally exceeded the Australian Drinking Water guidelines, which caused the need for the town to be placed on a precautionary boil water alert on Wednesday, June 8.
Mr Wood said the council had been working closely with the Department of Planning and Environment as well as NSW Health to monitor the levels regularly every day.
"Dubbo Regional Council is managing an aged water treatment plant in Geurie, built in 1993," Mr Wood said.
"Since the amalgamation DRC have installed new sampling technology that is a lot more sensitive to changes in the water than what had previously been used."
READ MORE:
Mr Wood said that due to increased rainfall Dubbo was experiencing extra flows in the Macquarie River.
"This causes increased turbidity issues for a smaller plant of this size," he said.
"The new, more sensitive technology is detecting these changes in the levels that exceed, albeit marginally, the drinking standards."
In the Draft 2022/2023 Budget, DRC has proposed in excess of four million dollars to upgrade the Geurie Water Treatment Plant enabling it to meet current drinking water standards.
Residents are advised to boil water used for:
- Drinking
- Brushing teeth
- Washing and preparing food or beverages
- Preparing baby formula
- Making ice
Unboiled water may be used for:
- Showering and bathing but residents should minimise that amount of water taken into their mouth. As a precaution babies and toddlers should be sponge bathed.
- Washing dishes by hand or in a dishwasher provided dishes are air-dried before being used after washing
- Washing clothes
- The town's water filling station has been temporarily closed and token holders are able to use the water filling station at Wellington.
The Precautionary Boil Water Alert remains in place as of Friday, June 17.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News