Warialda Water Supply has tested positive for PFAS
20/11/24: PFOA 0.005 ug/l, PFOS 0.044 ug/l, PFHxS 0.11 ug/l, PFBS 0.018 ug/l.
5/12/2024: PFOA 0.003ug/l, PFOS 0.039 ug/l, PFHxS 0.077 ug/l, PFBS 0.013 ug/l
5/12/2024: PFOA 0.003 ug/l, PFOS 0.036 ug/l, PFHxS 0.076 ug/l. PFBS 0.012 ug/l
23/12/2024
Warialda North Reservoir Tank 2 :PFOS 0.005 ug/l, PFHxS 0.009 ug/l, PFBS 0.002 ug/l
11/12/24: Warialda residents offered free bottled water after PFAS found in drinking water
Residents of a NSW town are being offered free bottled water after forever chemicals were detected in drinking water.
[Dec 2024: 130ng/L. Source Here]
Tests conducted by NSW Health have found per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at levels that exceed Australian drinking water guidelines in a bore water supply at Warialda, about 200 kilometres north of Tamworth.
However, Gwydir Shire Council said NSW Health had advised them that continuing to drink the water “in the short term is unlikely to pose a health risk” and that it is safe for showering, washing dishes and laundry.
The state government is covering the cost of 2 litres of bottled water per person each day for the approximately 1,500 residents.
They can collect it from the local grocery store and the tourist information centre, where supplies are being replenished.
NSW Health offered tests to 83 regional water suppliers after contaminated water was being supplied to at least 41,000 homes in the Upper Blue Mountains.
Council investigating possible sources
During an interview on ABC New England North West radio on Wednesday morning, Mayor Tiffany Galvin said council undertook testing because of detections in Sydney and they received the results yesterday.
“Until yesterday I had never heard of PFAS so it’s new to me as well,” Cr Galvin said.
“They’re [NSW Health] saying it’s not critical … but they would advise people not to drink it and to take the bottled water.”
She said council did not know how the PFAS chemicals may have entered the water supply.
Council is investigating the bores and possible sources and considering possible solutions with the support of NSW Health, the environment and water department and the NSW Environment Protection Authority.
The United States Environment Protection Agency said there was no safe level of PFAS exposure in drinking water.
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has proposed to drastically slash the levels of PFAS considered safe in Australia’s drinking water, which has increased pressure on water suppliers to ensure compliance.
Greens MP and chair of the NSW parliamentary inquiry into PFAS, Cate Faehrmann, said reassurances of safe water from NSW Health were hollow.
“What they’re not telling the public is that these guidelines are now out of date and that they haven’t kept up with international best practice,” Ms Faehrmann said.
She said the discovery should be a “wake-up call” to all water utilities.
‘It’s our priority to have everybody safe’
Last week the ABC revealed that despite the state government committing to transparency around PFAS levels in drinking water, NSW Health initially did not respond to repeated requests for information on results from regional testing.
It later said it would write to all regional water utilities and urge them to test and “re-iterating the expectation that those testing results should be published and available to local communities as soon as practicable”.
The ABC approached all regional suppliers and requested the information, including Gwydir Shire Council.
On November 19 the council said it was still waiting for test results, the water was safe to drink and it “complies with NSW guidelines for drinking water”.
Cr Galvin on Wednesday said council would do a letter box drop and alert the community as soon as they received more tests results.
The ABC has requested a copy of the results from Warialda’s bore from NSW Health.