Richmond Valley Council urges residents to boil drinking water

A “boil water” alert has been issued to residents who draw their water from the Casino Water Treatment Plant. Here is why.

Richmond Valley Council says they are owed more than $700,000 in unpaid water bills, and they've had enough of asking people nicely to pay up.

Casino and surrounding residents have been urged to boil their water after treated water was found to be below health standards.

Richmond Valley Council has begun the task of flushing its reservoirs after a period of approximately an hour on Thursday morning when the treated water was found to be sub standard.

General Manager Vaughan Macdonald said to maintain the quality of drinking water, Council needed to release water at a high-flow rate to clean the mains.

Around 16 megalitres will be flushed from the town water supply to ensure public safety.

Freshly treated water which meets the required NSW Health standards will then take its place.

“We recognise the impact and inconvenience caused by the imposition of a boil water alert to homes and businesses,” Mr Macdonald said.

“Our priority is the provision of safe, clean drinking water, and safeguarding that water supply for the future is a vital focus.”

He said there was no one cause for the poor quality water, which was brought about by recent rain events and flooding.

“A range of factors has contributed to this issue, which highlights the sensitive nature of our catchment.

“Please continue to boil your water or use bottled water until you are notified our tap water is safe to drink,” Mr Macdonald said.

Council will continue its water sampling and testing regimen to verify the water is safe before seeking agreement with the NSW Health to lift the alert.

Richmond Valley Council is aiming to have the boil water alert lifted by Monday.