Water Sampling

WATER SAMPLING AND THE ST HELENS WATER SUPPLY
FORESTRY/FARMING CONTAMINATION CLAIMS

INTRODUCTION

Concerns have been raised by some sections of the community that the Georges River catchment may have been subject to contamination from chemicals used in forestry and farming activities.

In more recent times there have been claims that these chemicals may cause ill health in the consumers of the water especially the St Helens water supply.

THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC OR MEDICAL EVIDENCE TO SUBSTANTIATE THESE CLAIMS

ACTION TO DATE

St Helens drinking water supply is regularly monitored for microbiological compliance with the requirements of Tasmanian Guidelines for Water Quality issued under the Public Health Act 1997. It is accepted worldwide that the most important aspect of water safety is microbiological safety.

The continuing claims of spray contaminating the water catchment has resulted in a sampling program for herbicides and pesticides being established, with initial samples being taken in July 2004. The testing was directed to known chemicals currently being used or, had been known to be used in both forestry and agriculture. These chemicals are listed on the attached laboratory reports.

Since then an automatic monitoring system was installed to sample water following incidents of heavy rainfall in the catchment.

Following evidence of continuing concern, the Director of Public Health advised Council that the sampling is to be undertaken on a monthly basis for the next twelve months.

CLAIMS THAT WATER SUPPLY HAS RESULTED IN ELEVATED HEALTH RISK

Dr Roscoe Taylor, Director of Public Health has advised Council that his Department has reviewed at length the claimed medical cases that Dr Bleaney has raised as possible links to the water supply. Dr Taylor's conclusions were;

" The existence and reported frequency of a range of health conditions among people living in the St Helens area that has been reported by Dr Bleaney do not appear to represent a significant departure from the normal range that might be experienced in general practices servicing a population with similar socio-demographics."

SAMPLE RESULTS

It is proposed to include all sample results taken under this program on this web page. These will be presented in the format reported to Council by Analytic Services Tasmania, based at the University of Tasmania.

The following information is presented to assist with the interpretation of these results.

• Following the initial sample taken on the 21 July 2004, Dr. Taylor released a report that contained a number of references, explanations to samples and summary. This document is attached by the following link Report on St Helens Water Supply (56 kb). The Director of Public Health has advised that the reference in his report, "that there had been no known "Atrazine" usage in the water catchment for some time", was correct at the time of publication, however since that time one property owner has confirmed its use.
• The laboratory can only detect chemicals to a certain very low concentration; therefore the reports will indicate that if a result is less than that level, it also means "not detected".
• ?g/L means micrograms per litre, which is parts per billion.
• < means less than.
• Except for "Glyphosate" all other tests detect to a level of <0.5 or <0.05 parts per billion.
• It is difficult to have a perspective of what these levels represent in practice. The following examples are provided;

Additional information on water and water sampling can be accessed via the following link http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/publichealth/environmentalhealth/waterquality/index.html