Tamworth will soon prise open a treasure trove of information on environmental sustainability and water safety in a bid to clean up the town's water supply.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
At its most recent meeting, council voted to become a member of the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (crcCARE), paying $5000 for the privilege.
The crcCARE program gives members access to cutting-edge research from industry experts at the University of Newcastle into anything and everything to do with environmental contamination.
One research area of particular concern to Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) is new information on PFAS, also known as 'forever chemicals', which have been linked to an increased risk of prostate, kidney and testicular cancers.
"There's been a lot of publicity lately about PFAS and how it's unknown what it does to the human body. One of the potential sources of PFAS is groundwater and soil," Councillor Judy Coates said.
READ ALSO:
Many communities and agricultural businesses rely on groundwater, such as the small town of Attunga, whose groundwater supply is deemed as one of the most reliable in TRC.
"If we can get involved for $5000 and see if we can help to address the risks to our community, I think that's money well spent," Cr Coates said.
Council says it has a number of projects that could benefit from working with crcCARE, such as the management of PFAS produced as a byproduct of wastewater treatment, the treatment of heavily-polluted water, and the effect of water recycling facilities on soil health.
In addition to joining crcCARE, councillors voted to put its Director of Water and Waste in charge of keeping tabs on the newly-accessible information and advise council on how it can benefit the region.
"It will be very interesting to hear from Bruce Logan, our Director of Water and Waste, particularly around what we may learn from this membership, including managing contaminants at the wastewater treatment facilities we own," Cr Southwell said.
At the same meeting, councillors tasked Mr Logan with discussing council's current plans for upgrading council's water treatment facilities with NSW Health to ensure they are in line with state government requirements, and to investigate whether funding is available to improve water treatment facilities in Tamworth, Manilla, Barraba, Nundle, and Bendemeer.
A council report said these treatment sites will likely require upgrades as a result of a 2022 update to the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, which have upped the standards for a "tolerably low level" of viruses in drinking water.
The report says council had already been planning to roll out these improvements over time, but the new guidelines might require council to implement them sooner than expected.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News