Annual report on drinking water quality in Victoria 2009–2010 Annual report on drinking water quality in Victoria 2009–2010 Accessibility If you would like to receive this publication in an accessible format, please telephone 1300 761 874, use the National Relay Service 13 36 77 if required or email [email protected] This document is also available in PDF format on the internet at: www.health.vic.gov.au/environment/water/drinking Published by the Victorian Government, Department of Health, Melbourne, Victoria ISBN 978 0 7311 6340 3 © Copyright, State of Victoria, Department of Health, 2011 This publication is copyright, no part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Authorised by the State Government of Victoria, 50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. Printed on sustainable paper by Impact Digital, Unit 3-4, 306 Albert St, Brunswick 3056 March 2011 (1101024) Foreword The provision of safe drinking water to Victoria’s urban and rural communities is essential for maintaining public health and wellbeing. In Victoria, drinking water quality is protected by legislation that recognises drinking water’s importance to the state’s ongoing social and economic wellbeing. The regulatory framework for Victoria’s drinking water is detailed in the Safe Drinking Water Act 2003 and the Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2005. The Act and Regulations provide a comprehensive framework based on a catchment-to-tap approach that actively safeguards the quality of drinking water throughout Victoria. The main objectives of this regulatory framework are to ensure that: • where water is supplied as drinking water, it is safe to drink • any water not intended to be drinking water cannot be mistaken for drinking water • water quality information is disclosed to consumers and open to public accountability. Under section 32 of the Act, the Secretary of the Department of Health is required to provide the Minister for Health with an annual report on the quality of Victoria’s drinking water, which is then presented to each house of Parliament. This annual report is the sixth produced under the Act. It provides an overview of the implementation of the Act in Victoria in relation to the quality of drinking water supplied during the 2009–10 financial year. It also examines the operations and performance of water businesses, water treatment and fluoridation activities and some of the initiatives that the state’s water businesses undertook to improve or enhance drinking water quality across Victoria during the period. The report shows that the high quality of Victoria’s drinking water was maintained in 2009–10. 96.8 per cent of all Victorians supplied with drinking water received water that complied with all the state’s drinking water quality standards. Of the potential threats to water quality reported to the department, the majority were minor and transient in nature and did not compromise public health. Water businesses have made significant performance improvements in their risk management plan audits. Of the 25 audits that were undertaken during the period under review, 23 returned results of compliance. In the two cases of non-compliance, the issues that led to non-compliance were relatively minor in nature. Consistent with previous reports, most customer complaints about the quality of Victoria’s drinking water during 2009–10 related to discolouration or taste and odour issues. The number of complaints remained low. Most importantly, Victorians have continued to access, and enjoy the benefits of, high-quality drinking water. This report highlights how this has been achieved. Firstly, Victoria’s water businesses have continued to face the challenges and work hard to deliver quality drinking water. Secondly, the collaborative relationship between the department and water businesses, that underpins the regulatory framework, has continued to drive improvements in our drinking water quality. Fran Thorn Secretary, Department of Health Contents At a glance 1 What we do 1 Highlights in 2009–10 2 Challenges 2 The Drinking Water Regulatory Framework 6 Overview 6 Objectives and functions 6 Activities 7 1 Fluoridation 7 2 Auditor certification 9 3 Competency framework for water treatment operators 9 4 Approving analysts 10 5 Undertakings 10 6 Water sampling localities 11 7 Regulated water supplies 12 8 Review of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 12 9 Catchment management 13 10 Water quality issues associated with Eucalyptus nitens trees 13 11 Trichloroacetaldehyde (chloral hydrate) review 14 12 Industry and research organisation membership 15 Drinking water safety expenditure 15 Drinking water supplies in Victoria 18 Standards for drinking water quality in Victoria 19 Water quality data for 2009–10 20 Non-compliant results 22 Risk management plan audits 23 2009 audits 23 Notifications 25 Microbiological detections 26 Boil water notices 26 Blue-green algae 27 Customer complaints 28 Part 3: Summaries of performance of individual water businesses 29 Alpine resort management boards 30 Falls Creek Alpine Resort 31 Lake Mountain Alpine Resort 33 Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort 34 Mount Buller and Mount Stirling Alpine Resort 37 Mount Hotham Alpine Resort 39 Barwon Water 41 Central Highlands Water 45 City West Water 48 Coliban Water 51 East Gippsland Water 55 Gippsland Water 59 Goulburn–Murray Water 63 Goulburn Valley Water 67 Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water (GWM Water) 71 Lower Murray Water 76 Melbourne Water 79 North East Water 83 Parks Victoria 88 South East Water 91 South Gippsland Water 94 Southern Rural Water 98 Wannon Water 101 Western Water 105 Westernport Water 108 Yarra Valley Water 111 Appendices 113 Appendix 1: Water storage managers and water suppliers 2009 –10 114 Appendix 2: Overview of the Safe Drinking Water Act 2003 and 115 Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2005 and Functions of the Secretary Appendix 3: Contact details for water businesses 117 Appendix 4: Gazettal dates for water sampling localities 118 Appendix 5: Regulated water declarations 119 Appendix 6: Undertakings for 2009–10 120 Appendix 7: Water quality and treatment data for 2009–10 123 Appendix 8: Notifications for 2009–10 145 Appendix 9: Localities and towns 166 At a glance What we do Victoria’s drinking water regulatory framework is administered by the Department of Health which oversights all aspects of the supply of drinking water to Victorians to: • protect public health in relation to the supply of drinking water • monitor and enforce compliance with the Act and the regulations • investigate and report on any aspect of drinking water quality in Victoria • report on the performance of water businesses • make recommendations to the Minister for Health on any matter relating to drinking water • promote industry and public awareness and understanding of drinking water quality. The department achieves this by supporting the water businesses to comply with the Act and manage risks to drinking water quality. During 2009–10, 96.7 per cent of the state’s population that was supplied with drinking water received water that complied with all drinking water quality standards. This translates to 89 per cent of the state’s 485 water sampling localities complying with the standards. This was a 3 per cent improvement on the 2008–09 reporting period and 7 per cent improvement over the 2007–08 results. Projects undertaken by water businesses to improve water quality during 2009–10 included: • commencement of the supply of drinking water to the townships of Eskdale, Sebastian and Eynesbury (see page 118) • completion (six years early) of the 8800-kilometre Wimmera-Mallee pipeline project-saving -around 103 billion litres of water a year and supplying water to almost 10 per cent of Victoria • upgrading of the Winneke Water Treatment Plant, which supplies drinking water to a significant proportion of Melbourne • completion and commissioning of a new dissolved air flotation filtration (DAFF) water treatment plant at Bonnie Doon • completion of the 52-kilometre Hamilton–Grampians Pipeline • commissioning of a Salinity Reduction Plant at the Bridgewater Water Treatment Plant • opening of the new Woodglen Water Treatment Plant and reservoir. 1 Highlights of 2009–10 • Improvements in the level of compliance against most individual water quality standards: 2009–10: 89 per cent of water sampling localities complied with the standards 2008–09: 86 per cent complied 2007–08: 82 per cent complied • decreases in the number of non-compliant water sampling localities • decrease in the incidence of the disinfection by-product trihalomethanes from 43 non-compliant localities (2007–08) to 16 (2009–10): For turbidity, the decrease was from 10 (2007–08) to 4 (2009–10) non-compliant localities E. coli from 4 (2007–08) to 2 (2009–10) Aluminium from 30 (2007–08) to 26 (2009–10) • additional three communities supplied with drinking water • increase in numbers of Victorians receiving optimally fluoridated drinking water since 1994 from 74 per cent to 90 per cent • increase in results from a second round of risk management plan audits in 2009 of 92 per cent from 60 per cent compliance following the first round (2008) • decrease in notifications of water quality issues from 195 (2007–08) to 172 (2008–09) and then further to 156 (2009–10). Challenges • The drought conditions that were present during the reporting period continued to provide the state’s water businesses with a challenging working environment, including: - low river flows, which limit the availability of high quality source water - poorer raw water quality, which makes the water more difficult to treat - an 800-kilometre-long blue-green algae bloom along the Murray River, which created taste and odour issues in a number water supplies. • The need to resolve ongoing issues of non-compliance in a small number of rural water supplies continues. Whilst significant improvements have been made over the past couple of reporting periods, there is a need to look for long-term solutions for these supplies.