RESIDENTS of the Tambar Springs area are being advised to boiled their water after E.coli was detected in the village’s drinking water.
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Gunnedah Shire Council (GSC) advised residents on Friday morning that E.coli had been detected in a water sample.
Royal Hotel Tambar Springs employee Jo Chatsield said council informed the hotel on Friday morning about the issue.
“Luckily we use a water filter here and the only time we use tap water is for cooking, which hopefully wont be a problem,” Ms Chatsield said.
The Tambar Springs local said this is the first time the are has faced the issue of water contamination.
“I’d really like to know why it happened and how long it has been in the water,” Ms Chatsield said.
“It’s the first time I remember it happening and it certainly raises a lot of questions.”
A Tambar Springs Public School spokesperson said the school is taking preventative measures.
“The school was given a water alert today,” the spokesperson said on Friday.
“Students, staff and visitors at the school already drink bottled water provided by the school.
“As an additional precaution, students have been instructed to use antiseptic sanitiser after washing their hands.”
Tambar Springs Progress Association president Robyn Styles was pleased with council’s quick warning to the issue.
“I had heard about it earlier in the day before council got in touch,” Ms Styles said.
“They were obviously working their way around everyone in town and after I heard from the first person I got out there and put flyers up all over the place warning people.”
GSC is encouraging residents and business in the Tambar Springs village area to boil their water as a precautionary measure.
“Inspections are undertaken twice a week for chlorine and monthly for E.Coli,” GSC’s water services manager Kevin Sheridan told Fairfax on Friday afternoon.
“The last test didn’t indicate any issues with the water and the current problem has been identified as the dosing injector being seized.
“One of the reservoirs has now been drained and manually dosed with chlorine.
“Staff will continue to manually dose the reservoir every couple of days to ensure correct chlorination levels until the injector is fixed or replaced.”
No one is believed to have fallen ill from the outbreak.
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