THE Duri community has moved one step closer to restoring its bore water supply, after a new piece of equipment was installed to help decontaminate the water.
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A monitoring well has been installed in Railway Avenue to help remove unleaded fuel from the water supply, which has been contaminating the water since December 29.
The well aims to extract groundwater, remove the fuel from the supply and pump the clean water to a recovery well.
The process is expected to take a minimum of four weeks.
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However, Tamworth Regional Council's acting director of planning and compliance Ross Briggs said the work would "take as long as it takes".
"Basically, it will be there for four weeks at least, depending on the success and how it's going," Mr Briggs said.
"It will be reviewed on a weekly basis, it's all hooked up remotely and the operators can look at it at any time.
"It could be here for months if not longer than a year, and if that's the case, then it has to happen to try and get the fuel out of the groundwater."
Mr Briggs said council was not paying for the equipment, instead a Duri store owner was footing the bill.
"There were two fuel tanks that were used as part of the business," he said.
"One of them had been found to have holes in it, so both tanks were emptied and removed.
"As much of the contaminated soil as possible was removed at that point and the hole was back-filled so the store could continue to operate.
"The next stage rightly, is to go back and take out that fill, it will be treated as contaminated soil and then we will search as far as we can without disturbing the buildings for any more contaminated soil."
The council is advising residents not to use bore water, a warning that has been in place since the issue was first reported to the council by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) on December 29.
Duri residents are currently using rain water, but should supplies run dry, Mr Briggs said the council would consider carting water to the community of more than 500 people.
"That's something we would have to look at," he said.
"We haven't been approached at this stage and thankfully the rain is coming, and has been good to us.
"The community has been really good at not using their bores. We haven't had any real concerns from the community raised with council.
"Our advice to those people that aren't directly in the village, is if you notice your water is starting to smell of fuel, don't use the bore, contact us and we will test the bore for you."
The fuel contamination is not a first for the region, after the Woolomin community experienced a similar scenario in 2016, which prompted the council to cart water into the area.
"I do think it is time for businesses with existing petrol tanks to start looking a bit more thoroughly," Mr Briggs said.
"We have been in touch with a lot of the current and former service stations to make sure they are across their responsibilities and as far as we can tell they are aware of their responsibilities."
Specialist environmental consultants will have a report ready for the EPA later this month.
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
