Heavy rainfall through the early hours of Tuesday morning (July 9) has raised turbidity in the water supply and resulted in a new Boiled Water Alert for Tully town and Tully rural areas that draw on the Bulgun Creek and Boulder Creek water supply intakes.
A Cassowary Coast Regional Council spokesman said Council appreciated the frustration for residents in having to boil their water again only a few days after coming off a week-long boil water event.
“We are looking forward to having our new intake reservoirs in place so we can all do away with Boil Water Alerts,” he said.
“We can only ask people to understand Council is doing all it can to get everything under way for delivery of the new 4.5 megalitre Bulgun Creek intake reservoir in the Tully Gorge National Park.
“We have been working on a clean water supply for Tully for some time. A site was confirmed near the existing Bulgun Creek water supply intake following environmental and cultural heritage assessments and in June last year we lodged an application for the land.
“While the land application was before State and Federal governments, we applied for and secured $1.9 million through the Local Government Grants and Subsidies Program to complement our budget allocation this year of $1.1 million for the Bulgun intake reservoir.
“Design of the reservoir was completed and tenders have just closed for the supply of the 4.5 megalitre glass-coated, steel intake reservoir tank from overseas, and we are looking to award that in the next week or two.
“Tenders have also been called for the associated civil works for supply and fitting of external pipeworks, setting up the earthwork pads and erection of the reservoir tank. This tender will close in a few weeks.
“This project is moving along and is just waiting for final approvals of the lease, which is subject to State and Federal government sign-off now that the Wet Tropics Management Authority has given approval for the intake reservoir to be built in Tully Gorge National Park, in the World Heritage Area, near Council’s existing Bulgun Creek intake.”
A 4.6 megalitre reservoir is also under construction at Wheatley’s Hill near South Mission Beach. This reservoir has sufficient storage to allow continuous supply of clean water for the Mission Beach communities for the majority of recorded turbidity events at the intake. A further $1.2 million is allocated in this year’s budget to complete the $5.1 million Wheatley Hill reservoir.
The spokesman explained that a Boiled Water Alert was required when turbidity (dirt in the water) exceeded five NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units) for more than four continuous hours.
“If turbidity exceeds 5 NTU for more than four hours, we have no choice but to issue a Boil Water Alert in accordance with the Drinking Water Quality Management Plan and inform the water regulator (Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy) and Queensland Health.
“We find turbidity at the Boulder Creek source is impacted by rainfall to a greater extent than Bulgun Creek so we have been fairly regularly switching to supply from Bulgun Creek only. This worked a treat during the week of the World Rafting Championships but this does not always achieve the desired result of fitting the four-hour threshold.
“To cancel a Boil Water Alert, we need to have a minimum of three clear days of low turbidity, good chlorine levels and no E.coli readings in the water samples.”
The current Boil Water Alert posted at 7.30am Tuesday morning, followed overnight rainfall of 157mm. It covers the Tully and Tully Rural water supply schemes and affects residents and businesses in Tully town, Feluga, East Feluga, Bulgun, Silky Oak, Euramo, Merryburn, South Mission Beach, Wongaling Beach, Carmoo, Hull Heads, Tully Heads, Jarra Creek area (Syndicate Road and Mullins Road).
Water should be boiled for use in drinking, brushing teeth, washing or preparing food that is not going to be cooked, preparing baby formula and making ice.
For further information, please contact Council on 1 300 763 903
