Pesticide regulation key for future water safety in Mackay, Whitsunday
High levels of nasties have been recorded in water supply testing across Mackay and the Whitsundays. SEE WHAT WAS FOUND.
Mackay
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High levels of pesticides have been found more than a dozen times in Mackay’s drinking water supply over the past six months.
The Dumbleton Weir along the Pioneer River supplies Mackay’s drinking water, as well as Walkerston, Sarina, Alligator Creek and Freshwater Point.
Since March, concentrations of Diuron – a broad spectrum herbicide and algaecide – has exceeded “the guideline for (the) protection of moderately disturbed aquatic ecosystems” nine times.
Imidacloprid, an insecticide, went above the guideline levels three times over the same period.
Also detected at Dumbleton this year were various other herbicides and pesticides, though like Diuron and Imidacloprid, they were not detected at levels high enough to breach the drinking water guidelines.
Detections of pesticides are recorded in the online Pesticide Reporting Portal with Sandy Creek at Homebush the other active monitoring site within the Mackay region.
Like at Dumbleton, there were high levels of Diuron and Imidacloprid. But Homebush also recorded seven exceedances of Metsulfuron-methyl, a herbicide that stops cells dividing in plants.
Regional rainfall and subsequent run-off played the key role in water quality, according to the recently released waterways report card from the Healthy Rivers to Reef Partnership.
From July 2021 to June 2022, Mackay’s waterways earned an overall C grade while the Whitsundays’ Inshore Marine Area earned a “poor” D grade.
Pesticides were of particular concern for three waterways – the freshwater Proserpine Basin, the freshwater Plane (Creek) Basin, and Sandy Creek Estuary – which were all graded as E or “very poor”.
The report card also detailed the dirty habits of Whitsunday residents and tourists, with more than 7000 cigarette butts found in 15 litter traps across Proserpine, Cannonvale and Airlie Beach throughout 2022 and early 2023.
HRTR chair Charlie Morgan said many people did not realise cigarette filters were made from plastic fibres which had a “persistent and potentially harmful effect on marine environments”.
“The partnership is thrilled to be working with venues to help local residents ‘ditch the flick’ and provide dedicated butt bins,” Ms Morgan said.
Mackay Regional Council Engineering and Commercial Infrastructure director Jason Devitt said the council had rigorous controls in place to ensure water was safe and of the highest quality, via its Drinking Water Quality Management Plan.
“Many tests are performed on our raw water, across all processes in the treatment plant, to ensure our treatment processes produce potable water that meets the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Australian Drinking Water Guidelines,” Mr Devitt said.
“We also continue to test our treated water once it enters our networks.”
Mr Devitt said treatment processes had been developed to treat the water for pesticides.
“The water treatment plant offers a multi-barrier approach to remove water contaminants and ensure safe drinking water for the community,” he said.
The state government is injecting $1.25m to the Reef Regional Waterway Partnerships over the next 12 months, part of a $6.25m commitment over five years.
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