Small town has been left without clean drinking water for THREE MONTHS after the supply was contaminated with arsenic
- Uralla residents must use bottled water as arsenic has tainted the town's supply
- It costs the state government $5000-a-day to provide water to the NSW town
- The treatment facility is unable to cleanse the supply and is waiting for funding
- No time frame is in place for the saga to end and it could still last another month
A country town has been forced to drink bottled water for the past three months after the supply was contaminated with arsenic.
Residents in Uralla, in the New South Wales Northern Tablelands, were left without clean drinking water on December 18 last year after unsafe levels of arsenic were detected in Kentucky Dam.
The pollutant, which is present in the ground, is believed to have seeped into the water as drought conditions dwindled the supply down to the floor of the damn.
The levels were four times the Australian Drinking Water Guideline limit of arsenic consumption when they were first discovered.
On Monday, one section of the creek was measured at 12 times the recommended concentration levels of arsenic.
Uralla, in New South Wales Northern Tablelands, has been forced to drink bottled water since December after unsafe levels of arsenic were detected in the town's water supply
The state government has been spending $5000 a day on bottled water for the town of around 2800 people since the crisis began.
Residents who have been advised to use bottled water for drinking, food preparation, making ice, cleaning teeth and gargling, are growing increasingly frustrated with no-end date to the saga in sight.
Arsenic can cause diabetes, acute gastrointestinal and neurological disorders, skin discoloration and the development of several types of cancer.
Share this article
'It's just frustrating, there's a strong feeling in the community that they are frustrated it hasn't been fixed,' Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall told the Northern Daily Leader.
'They feel there are mixed reports about the extent of the problem, what's being done and what can be done to resolve the problem.
'We'll have plenty of time to go through the entrails and read the tea leaves, but I want to get things fixed. I'm as frustrated as anyone.'
The Uralla Shire Council released a statement on Wednesday warning residents not to drink from the tap
Uralla Shire Council general manager David Aber told Daily Mail Australia it was an unprecedented issue for the treatment facility plant as three species of arsenic had been discovered.
Mr Aber said the council has drafted a funding proposal to the state government to make filtration modifications to the plant but he could not confirm how long the process would take.
Once it is approved, the modifications will take three to four weeks to be installed.
Much-needed rain over the past two weeks filled the water catchment to 100 per cent on Tuesday.
A photo of a resident's backyard reveals the devastatingly dry drought conditions that prompted the contamination
On Tuesday, Mr Aber said while the rain had brought relief, it would still be a while before the arsenic issue would be resolved.
'This has been a persistent and difficult problem for our own and the State Government’s staff,' Mr Aber said in a statement on Facebook.
'We need to work carefully to ensure that we have a robust practical solution to the problem that will provide future protection as well as meet our immediate needs'
'Any solution will be subject to detailed testing before implementation.
'We want the solution for Uralla to be both robust and reliable.' Mr Aber said.
