Council seeking advice about treating water contaminated with ash

With much of the catchment burnt out by bushfires and several scattered storms hitting the region, some dropping up to 60mm, there is concern a heavy downpour could wash a large amount of ash in to Tamworth's drinking water supply.

TRC water director Bruce Logan said although there were currently no quality issues with the city's water, it paid to be prepared.

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"It certainly is a serious concern, the whole of the Dungowan catchment is burnt out and the Chaffey catchment has now also been affected by fire," Mr Logan said.

"We are definitely concerned about the quality of the raw water we'll get from the Dungowan and Chaffey dams in the event we do have heavy rain over the next few weeks."

The council has reached out to the state government's water expects for help.

"We aren't very experienced in treating water that is heavily contaminated with ash," Mr Logan said.

"We're trying to get some advice about what that might mean for us so we're ready if that happens."

Despite the uncertainty, Mr Logan said there was no need for community concern.

"We wouldn't release the water in to reticulation if we felt there was a health risk associated with that," he said.

"Hopefully the rain that we do get won't be too heavy and won't cause any flooding or ash to run in to the dams."

Chaffey Dam currently sits at 13.42 per cent capacity. It received a small inflow of six megalitres for the first time in several months following a number of scattered showers.

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