News the state government will fund two water filtration plants is being welcomed by residents who have been lobbying for swift action on water quality.
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My water quality is still terrible and I refuse to buy water.
- Tathra resident Rebekah Fowler
Earlier this month Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced $10million for a Brogo-Bermagui plant, and $15.2million for a Bega-Tathra plant.
Tathra resident Rebekah Fowler collected 1000 signatures for a petition more than a year ago to lobby Ms Berejiklian to help fix the issue.
“My water quality is still terrible and I refuse to buy water. I have to let the taps run until the water becomes clear, and sometimes it doesn’t run clear at all.
“Tathra was once known for being one of the best places for fabulous water, and the high cost of fixing the issue is not a valid excuse when there is algae in the water supply.”
Bega Valley Shire Council’s water and sewerage services manager, Jim Collins, said the issue of discoloured water is being tackled “twofold”.
Mr Collins said aging cast iron fittings across the region’s four water supplies can cause discoloured water, and that the fittings are “being progressively replaced” with “sufficient other money available for the water mains renewals work”.
In 2008 council noted iron corrosion was discolouring drinking water, likely exacerbated by drought conditions and associated low river flows. A decade later, further analysis of discoloured tap water samples came to the same conclusion.
Mr Collins said the “fundamental problem is the raw water from the Bega borefield which contains iron/manganese and pathogens associated with catchment area development”, and the “filtration plant will solve both of these problems”.
The current construction of a water treatment plant at Bemboka comes after internal NSW Health emails from 2016 revealed there was a “very high risk” of chlorine resistant pathogens contaminating the catchment due to “on-site sewerage system discharges and failures and presence of septic systems”.
One email discusses the preparation of a draft letter to water minister Niall Blair and infrastructure minister and Bega MP Andrew Constance, sharing concerns over major regional surface water supplies, including Merimbula.
Despite being labelled of “high concern”, the Tantawanglo-Kiah system, the largest in the region, will not receive a treatment plant under the latest funding announcement.
