2020 February Moe Water Treatment Plant

15 February 2020 – 28 February 2020. Moe Water Treatment Plant. Boil Water Notice

A significant storm event occurred in the Latrobe Valley and across the Moe township. As a result the Moe Water Treatment Plant (WTP) lost one phase of a three phase electrical supply to the plant causing, critical control point alarms (CCP) across the plant to malfunction. This resulted in a treatment process failure and out of specification high turbidity water entering the Moe supply system which posed a risk to health from micro-organisims.

Affected Areas: Hernes Oak, Moe, Moe South, Newborough, Trafalgar East, Westbury, Yallourn, Yallourn Heights and Yallourn North townships

Rectification of process control systems and additional protections implemented.
Increased reticulation monitoring and testing (Turbidity, Free chlorine, E.coli Cryptosporidium and Giardia) for the duration of the boil water alert.
Flushing and turnover of water in the storage basins and reticulation network to remove any contaminated water.
Review of risk management procedures (dirty water and boil water management plans) to incorporate learnings and operational improvements identified.

Yes
A Boil Water Advisory notice was issued to the affected communities through local media (print, radio, sms, social media and incident banner on website with up to date information for customers). The Boil Water Advisory was in place from 15 Feb 2020 to 28 Feb 2020.

Gippsland Water 2019/2020 Drinking Water Quality Report

2019/20 – Moe (Victoria) Turbidity

2019/20: Moe (Victoria) – Turbidity 10NTU (max)

Chlorine-resistant pathogen reduction: Where filtration alone is used as the water treatment
process to address identified risks from Cryptosporidium and Giardia, it is essential
that filtration is optimised and consequently the target for the turbidity of water leaving
individual filters should be less than 0.2 NTU, and should not exceed 0.5 NTU at any time
Disinfection: A turbidity of less than 1 NTU is desirable at the time of disinfection with
chlorine unless a higher value can be validated in a specific context.
Aesthetic: Based on aesthetic considerations, the turbidity should not exceed 5 NTU at the
consumer’s tap.