3/1/20 – 14/1/20 – Buchan (Victoria) – Boil Water Notice
During the East Gippsland bushfires, fires strongly challenged the corporation’s ability to continue supplying water safe for drinking because of the direct impact on some key assets and the unprecedented demand on the water treatment and supply systems. Despite this, supply was maintained with precautionary boil water and do not drink notices only issued where quality could not be guaranteed.
Three Section 22 notifications were issued during the bushfires. The first was issued on 31 December 2019, as a result of the need to bypass secondary chlorination and issue a Boil Water Notice for Mallacoota. The bypass was required to keep up with the unprecedented demand for water. The second was on 3 January 2020, as a result of losing secondary disinfection at Buchan, which required a Do Not Drink Tap Water Advisory Notice to be issued for the township. The third section 22 notification came on 4 January, because of the need to bypass the Omeo Water Treatment Plant and issue a Do Not Drink Tap Water Advisory Notice for the Omeo township to keep up with the extreme level of water demand.
All the notices were successfully lifted in consultation with DHHS, once actions to reinstate each of the water supply system were completed and the delivery of safe drinking water had been restored. Notices were lifted on 1st January 2020 for Mallacoota, 14th January 2020 for Buchan and 16th January 2020 for Omeo.
East Gippsland Water 2019/20 Drinking Water Quality Report