Season boil water notice in place for Myrtleford

A seasonal boil water notice will be implemented in Myrtleford from Sunday 1 November 2009.  In consultation with the Department of Health, North East Water has implemented a boil water notice from 1 November 2009 until 30 April 2010, to minimise the risk to public health over the warmer period.

During this time customers will need to bring their water to a rolling boil before using for drinking, food preparation, ice making and brushing teeth. 

North East Water has been working in close consultation with the Myrtleford Community Reference Group and the Department of Health (DOH) to address the ongoing incidents of non compliance in the water supply.

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) came into force in July 2004 and requires all Victorian water supplies to be managed using risk-based principles and comply with a set of water quality standards, including E.coli. 

The current UV disinfection method in Myrtleford does not always provide SDWA-compliant water, in particular E. coli compliance. 

As such North East Water has commenced work on a new water treatment plant upgrade, which will provide best practice water filtration, treatment and disinfection in line with the SDWA requirement for multiple barrier protection.

Fiona Smith, Executive Manager, Operations said: “In planning this project, we have aimed for the right balance between compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act 2003 and the Myrtleford community’s point of view in regard to chemical disinfection.”

“We have worked closely with the Community Reference Group and the Department of Health to achieve best practice water treatment for our customers in Myrtleford and are on track to have the new treatment plant operational by December 2010.”

Ms Smith said North East Water understood the impost the boil water notices had on customers, and thanked residents for their ongoing patience.

“We look forward to the completion of the upgrade, which will alleviate the need for seasonal boil water notices in the future,” she said.

Please feel free to contact Karen Stacey, Water Quality Officer on 1300 361 622 for further information.