Redbanks (South Australia) – Trihalomethanes

Breaches to Australian Drinking Water Guidelines Levels Only

23/01/2014 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 309 ug/L

20/03/2014 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 265 ug/L

23/12/2015 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 289 ug/L

21/1/2016 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 261 ug/L

18/2/2016 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 267 ug/L

17/3/2016 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 293 ug/L

27/10/2016 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 252 ug/L

25/11/2016 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 273 ug/L

22/12/2016 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 267 ug/L

19/1/2017 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 316 ug/L

10/2/2017 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 281 ug/L

16/2/2017 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 316 ug/L

23/2/2017 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 320 ug/L

2/3/2017 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 259 ug/L

9/3/2017 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 286 ug/L

17/3/2017 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 271 ug/L

11/4/2017 Redbanks – Germantown Road Trihalomethanes – Total 275 ug/L

14-Sep-17 Redbanks: Trihalomethanes – Total 254 µg/L
16-Nov-17 Redbanks: Trihalomethanes – Total 272 µg/L
14-Dec-17 Redbanks: Trihalomethanes – Total 282 µg/L
25-Jan-18 Redbanks: Trihalomethanes – Total 277 µg/L
22-Feb-18 Redbanks: Trihalomethanes – Total 271 µg/L
21-Mar-18 Redbanks: Trihalomethanes – Total 272 µg/L
26-Apr-18 Redbanks: Trihalomethanes – Total 300 µg/L

22/11/2018 Redbanks: Trihalomethanes – Total 287 ug/l
20/12/2018 Redbanks: Trihalomethanes – Total 254 ug/l
24/1/2019 Redbanks: Trihalomethanes – Total 251 ug/l
21/2/2019 Redbanks: Trihalomethanes – Total 252 ug/l

2018/19: Redbanks (South Australia) Trihalomethanes 287ug/L (max), 235.2ug/L (av.)

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

Redbanks (South Australia) – Bromodichloromethane

2018/19: Redbanks (South Australia) Bromodichloromethane 100ug/L (max), 80.5ug/L (av.)

21/1/20: Redbanks Bromodichloromethane 76ug/L (2019/20 av. 58.5mg/L)

18/1/22 Redbanks Bromodichloromethane 70ug/L (max), (56.4ug/L av. 2021/22)

2022/23: Redbanks Bromodichloromethane 86ug/L (max), (70.75ug/L av. 2022/23)

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)

Redbanks – South Australia – Temperature

November 25 2016: Redbanks (South Australia) Germantown Rd – Temperature 21C

December 22 2016: Redbanks (South Australia) Germantown Rd – Temperature 23C

January 19 2017: Redbanks (South Australia) Germantown Rd – Temperature 28C

February 16 2017: Redbanks (South Australia) Germantown Rd – Temperature 26C

March 17 2017: Redbanks (South Australia) Germantown Rd – Temperature 25C

GUIDELINE

“No guideline is set due to the impracticality of controlling water temperature.
Drinking water temperatures above 20°C may result in an increase in the number of
complaints.

Temperature is primarily an aesthetic criterion for drinking water. Generally, cool water is more palatable than warm or cold water. In general, consumers will react to a change in water temperature. Complaints are most frequent when the temperature suddenly increases.

The turbidity and colour of filtered water may be indirectly affected by temperature, as low water temperatures tend to decrease the efficiency of water treatment processes by, for instance, affecting floc formation rates and sedimentation efficiency.

Chemical reaction rates increase with temperature, and this can lead to greater corrosion of pipes and fittings in closed systems. Scale formation in hard waters will also be greater at higher temperatures…

Water temperatures in major Australian reticulated supplies range from 10°C to 30°C. In some long, above-ground pipelines, water temperatures up to 45°C may be experienced…

The effectiveness of chlorine as a disinfectant is influenced by the temperature of the water being dosed. Generally higher temperatures result in more effective disinfection at a particular chlorine dose, but this may be counterbalanced by a more rapid loss of chlorine to the atmosphere (AWWA 1990).