Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall, left, Gwydir Shire Council’s Town Services Manager Andrew Cooper and Mayor John Coulton at the Warialda Town Water Supply reservoir.
Thursday, 9 January 2020
NORTHERN Tablelands MP Adam Marshall has today announced a $57,750 State Government grant to support the modernisation of real-time water quality monitoring for a number of towns across the Gwydir Shire.
Gwydir Shire Council currently operates four potable water supply systems for the communities of Warialda, Bingara, Gravesend and North Star, which all require individual and daily manual testing by council staff.
Mr Marshall said the funding would allow council to look at digitising its system to allow for uniformed water quality monitoring across its communities in real time, negating the need for staff to physically visit each water supply each day to take readings.
“With drought conditions taking a major toll on town water supplies in the Gwydir Shire, water quality cannot be taken for granted,” Mr Marshall said.
“While the existing water monitoring system is doing the job required it relies on manual testing of chlorine levels and water purity which is not the most efficient form of quality control.
“This funding will allow Council to investigate the cost of updating and automating its telemetry and monitoring equipment as well as undertaking an audit of the existing alarm systems.
“By undertaking these upgrades council will ensure every town in the shire has the same standard water while also reducing the risk of future quality issues.”
Mr Marshall said once the investigation stage was complete he would work with Gwydir Shire Council to seek the funding needed to undertake the upgrades.
“Our communities depend on access to clean water that meets environmental and health standards,” he said.
“This drought is the worst in living memory and while we continue to invest in emergency water infrastructure we need to ensure the water being consumed is also safe.”
The funding was made available through the State’s Safe and Secure Water Program, which is a $1 billion regional infrastructure co-funding program established in 2017 under the NSW Government’s Restart NSW Fund.