Boil water alert issued after Riverina town’s supply deemed unsafe
Dec 19 2023:
Drinking water in the Jerilderie township has been deemed unsafe following problems with the town’s water treatment.
An alert issued by Murrumbidgee Council states staff are currently working to fix the problem.
“Water used for drinking or food preparation should be brought to a rolling boil to make it safe,” a spokesperson for Murrumbidgee Council said.
“Kettles with automatic shut off switches can do this.
2000-2016: Jerilderie (NSW): E.coli
Turbidity is sometimes higher than the ADWG target for chlorine disinfection of <1 NTU (based on daily data collected at the treatment plant). E. coli detection is rare. (Murrumbidgee Council Drinking Water Management Strategy 2016)
“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