After several days of low water pressure in Moama, Murray River Council made the tough decision to issue a Boil Water Advisory at 9pm on Friday 19 January 2024.
The Moama Water Filtration Plant has been struggling to produce enough water to meet demand since the recent flood waters from the Goulburn and Campaspe River's entered the Murray River a little over a week ago.
The elevated levels of sediment and colour in the river water have made treatment of filtered water difficult which was evident when customers began experiencing low water pressure mid last week.
Council's CEO Terry Dodds said, 'firstly, we would like to thank all our residents, businesses and visitors for their efforts this week to conserve water. We are very grateful for everyone's efforts.
"It is unfortunate that due to the amount of sediment in the raw water, the filtration process at the Moama Water Filtration Plant is unable to keep up with water demand and we have had to issue the Boil Water Advisory".
"We understand that 9pm on a Friday night was not an ideal time to issue the notice but it was also timed to ensure that most local establishments had completed service for the night".
Under advice from NSW Health the following measures should be implemented under a Boil Water Advisory;
- Water used for drinking or food preparation should be brought to a rolling boil to make it safe. Kettles with automatic shut off switches can do this. Water should then be allowed to cool and stored in a clean container with a lid and refrigerated.
- Everyone, particularly people caring for young children, should be careful to avoid scalding, when you are heating and then cooling the water.
- Bottled water or cool boiled water should be used for drinking, washing uncooked food (e.g. salad vegetables and fruit), making ice, cleaning teeth, gargling and pet's drinking water.
- Dishes should be washed in hot soapy water or in a dishwasher. Children should take bottled water or cool boiled water to school.
- Tap water is safe for bathing. There is a potential risk if water is swallowed during washing and bathing. Parents and carers could consider a sponge bath for children as an alternative.
- If you cannot boil the water, unscented household bleach (containing 4% – 5% available chlorine) may be used. Add 2 drops of bleach to 1 litre of water (or 4 drops if the water is cloudy), mix well, and allow to stand for 30 minutes before use.
Council has been actively investigating options to upgrade the Moama Water Filtration Plant and has completed design specifications to allow for increased water production to meet the growing demand of Moama.
Mr Dodds said, "upgrades to the Moama Water Filtration Plant are progressing and we are actively seeking funding options. This will be an expensive, albeit necessary expenditure".
The Boil Water Advisory for Moama will likely remain in place until next week and we ask all Moama filtered water customers to please continue to boil your drinking and food preparation water until further advice from Council.
In the meantime, Coliban Water has provided a hydration station, which will be located at the Old Echuca Moama Visitor Centre, Echuca side of the old bridge, where Moama community members and visitors will be able to take drinking water containers and fill them up for free. The filtered water at the hydration station will come from the Echuca Water Supply System. We anticipate this system will remain in place for the time being. We thank Coliban Water for their assistance.
This Boil Water Advisory does not affect any other filtered water supply network within Murray River Council and does not impact Echuca Residents.
