2016 + 2020/21 – Gravesend (New South Wales) – E.coli, Turbidity

Friday 18 Nov 2016
Gravesend Boil Water Alert E. coli bacteria contamination
E. coli bacteria have been found in the Gravesend drinking water supply in regular monitoring by Gwydir Shire Council.
E. coil itself is generally not harmful, but its presence in drinking water is associated with sewage and animals. These bacteria indicate that the water may be contaminated with
organisms that may cause gut illness, As a precaution you are advised that water used for drinking or food preparation should be brought to a rolling boil. Water should then be allowec
to cool and stored in a clean container with a lid and refrigerated.

“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

Dec 20/Jan 21 – Gravesend (New South Wales) – Turbidity

Gwydir Shire Council

Gravesend Boil Water Alert has been lifted

Gwydir Shire Council advises that the boil water advisory issued on Friday 18th December 2020 has been lifted and there are no restrictions remaining on the normal uses of drinking water supplied to Gravesend…

The boil water alert was issued as a precaution due to rainfall events causing high turbidity in the Gwydir River…