Bore water banned in Adelaide’s north over PFAS contamination concerns

Residents in seven suburbs north of Adelaide will face fines of up to $8000 from next week, as the Environmental Protection Authority places a ban on bore water. Find out if you’re affected.

Residents in Adelaide’s north will face fines of up to $8000 from next Thursday if they extract bore water from the area, after the Environmental Protection Authority banned the practice over contamination concerns.

PFAS, which has been linked to cancer in people and animals, has been detected in groundwater in aquifers up to 60m below ground level in portions of Edinburgh, Direk, Burton, Salisbury North, Penfield, Paralowie and Waterloo Corner.

As such, the EPA has established a Groundwater Prohibition Area over 4000 residential an commercial properties in these areas.

Anyone who takes bore water from bores to a depth of 60m in the zone will face fines of up to $8000 from February 3.

“The purpose of a groundwater prohibition area is to protect both current and future landholders from accessing contaminated groundwater via a bore on their property,” the EPA said on its website.

The proposed Groundwater Prohibition Area in parts of Edinburgh and surrounding suburbs. Picture: EPA

The Advertiser reported in September last year that residents in parts of the seven affected suburbs were being urged not to drink, shower or water lawns with bore water after it was found to be contaminated with PFAS.

The EPA then undertook public consultation on its plan to create a prohibition area over parts of the suburbs.

It came after the Defence Department, in its investigations into PFAS contamination on and around the Edinburgh RAAF base, discovered groundwater in shallow aquifers in the area had been contaminated with the chemicals.

The department launched an inquiry into PFAS contamination at the RAAF base in 2016 and found varying levels of the toxin on the base and on private properties nearby.

PFAS, which does not break down in the environment, had been used in firefighting at the base until 2004.

For more information visit epa.sa.gov.au.