Willunga (South Australia) – E.coli

November 16 2016: Willunga (South Australia) – E.coli >100 cfu/100ml

Escherichia coli should not be detected in any 100 mL sample of drinking water. If detected
in drinking water, immediate action should be taken including investigation of potential
sources of faecal contamination.

“Coliforms are Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped bacteria that are capable of aerobic and facultative anaerobic growth in the presence of bile salts or other surface active agents with similar growth-inhibiting properties. They are found in large numbers in the faeces of humans and other warm-blooded animals, but many species also occur in the environment.

Thermotolerant coliforms are a sub-group of coliforms that are able to grow at 44.5 ± 0.2°C. E. coli is the most common thermotolerant coliform present in faeces and is regarded as the most specific indicator of recent faecal contamination because generally it is not capable of growth in the environment. In contrast, some other thermotolerant coliforms (including strains of Klebsiella, Citrobacter and Enterobacter) are able to grow in the environment and their presence is not necessarily related to faecal contamination. While tests for thermotolerant coliforms can be simpler than for E. coli, E. coli is considered a superior indicator for detecting faecal contamination…” ADWG 2011

Willunga (South Australia) – Trihalomethanes

Breaches to Australian Drinking Water Guidelines Levels Only

27/12/2007 Willunga St Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 254 ug/L

7/03/2008 Willunga St Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 252 ug/L

24/11/2010 Willunga St Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 251 ug/L

1/02/2012 Willunga Methodist Rd Trihalomethanes – Total 255 ug/L

8/02/2012 Willunga St Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 289 ug/L

29/03/2012 Willunga Methodist Rd Trihalomethanes – Total 280 ug/L

4/04/2012 Willunga St Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 283 ug/L

26/04/2012 Willunga Methodist Rd Trihalomethanes – Total 261 ug/L

13/06/2012 Willunga Methodist Rd Trihalomethanes – Total 273 ug/L

5/06/2013 Willunga St Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 257 ug/L

29/08/2013 Methodist Rd Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 276 ug/L

2/01/2014 Willunga St Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 259 ug/L

26/02/2014 Willunga St Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 283 ug/L

13/03/2014 Methodist Rd Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 286 ug/L

9/04/2014 Methodist Rd Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 317 ug/L

23/04/2014 Willunga St Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 297 ug/L

7/05/2014 Methodist Rd Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 330 ug/L

11/06/2014 Methodist Rd Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 348 ug/L

18/06/2014 Willunga St Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 290 ug/L

30/12/2015 Willunga St Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 257 ug/L

10/02/2016 Willunga St Methodist Rd Trihalomethanes – Total 283 ug/L

24/02/2016 Willunga St Georges Street Trihalomethanes – Total 256 ug/L

9/03/2016 Willunga St Methodist Rd Trihalomethanes – Total 314 ug/L

Trihalomethanes Australian Guideline Level 250μg/L (0.25mg/L)

Why and how are THMs formed?
“When chlorine is added to water with organic material, such as algae, river weeds, and decaying leaves, THMs are formed. Residual chlorine molecules react with this harmless organic material to form a group of chlorinated chemical compounds, THMs. They are tasteless and odourless, but harmful and potentially toxic. The quantity of by-products formed is determined by several factors, such as the amount and type of organic material present in water, temperature, pH, chlorine dosage, contact time available for chlorine, and bromide concentration in the water. The organic matter in water mainly consists of a) humic substance, which is the organic portion of soil that remains after prolonged microbial decomposition formed by the decay of leaves, wood, and other vegetable matter; and b) fulvic acid, which is a water soluble substance of low molecular weight that is derived from humus”. Source: https://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/in

Willunga (South Australia) – Bromodichloromethane

9/12/20: Willunga Bromodichloromethane 67ug/L

WHO Guideline level BDCM: 60ug/L (Australian Guideline for BDCM is included in the combined total of BDCM, Chloroform, Dibromochloromethane and Bromoform. THM guideline is 250ug/L)

“Carcinogenicity : Bromodichloromethane is reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity from studies in experimental animals.
Cancer Studies in Experimental Animals: Oral exposure to bromodichloromethane caused tumors at several different tissue sites in mice and rats. Administration of bromodichloromethane by stomach tube caused benign and malignant kidney tumors (tubular-cell adenoma and adenocarcinoma) in male mice and in rats of both sexes, benign and
malignant liver tumors (hepatocellular adenoma and carcinoma) in female mice, and benign and malignant colon tumors (adenomatous polyps and adenocarcinoma) in rats of both sexes (NTP 1987, ATSDR 1989, IARC 1991, 1999).

Since bromodichloromethane was listed in the Sixth Annual Report on Carcinogens, additional studies in rats have been identified. Administration of bromodichloromethane in the drinking water increased the combined incidence of benign and malignant liver tumors (hepatocellular adenoma or carcinoma) in males (George et al. 2002) and caused benign liver tumors (hepatocellular adenoma) in females (Tumasonis et al. 1987).

Cancer Studies in Humans
The data available from epidemiological studies are inadequate to evaluate the relationship between human cancer and exposure specifically to bromodichloromethane. Several epidemiological studies indicated a possible association between ingestion of chlorinated drinking water (which typically contains bromodichloromethane) and increased risk of
cancer in humans, but these studies could not provide information on whether any observed effects were due to bromodichloromethane or to one or more of the hundreds of other disinfection by-products also present in chlorinated water (ATSDR 1989).” (1)