High heavy metal content, faeces found: Report calls for better groundwater monitoring in Alice Springs

A new report has uncovered ‘microbial contamination’ and ‘human and animal waste’ in Alice Springs groundwater – but it’s not stopping a minister from drinking the town’s tap water ‘by the gallon’. Find out why.

Alice Springs town centre. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Faecal contamination in Alice Springs’ groundwater is no cause for concern, one expert says, but he is supporting a key call from the report which found the “human and animal waste” within the water supply.

The latest Alice Springs Water Assessment Report, published by the Department of Lands, Planning, and Environment in June, analysed a number of bores and aquifers from which the town draws water.

“Human and animal waste” was found within three bores within the Alice Springs town basin, the report states, alongside “faecal coliforms” which showed an “increased need for sanitary protection”.

Bores in the Mereenie aquifer system contained “microbial contamination” at “several sites around the sewerage treatment works,” according to the report.

The Mereenie aquifer, within the Roe Creek borefield south of town, is where the Alice Springs town’s water supply is sourced, the report states.

Charles Darwin University (CDU) Senior Lecturer Dr Dylan Irvine. Picture: CDU

Charles Darwin University senior lecturer Dr Dylan Irvine said the faecal contamination recorded at Mereenie was from a “a limited number of measurements detected over a time period ranging from the 1970s until the late 1990s”.

“Confirming whether or not faecal contamination is an issue in the town’s borefield is important. However, it’s worth noting that town water is treated and that testing post-treatment water can confirm that water does not have harmful bacterial contaminants,” he said.

High heavy metal counts were recorded across the borefields, and the current Alice Springs landfill site “may pose a potential risk to water quality,” the report states.

“The Alice Springs airport presents another potential source of contamination, not only from potential fuel spillages, but historical PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) use in firefighting foams,” the report states.

The report recommends the current groundwater monitoring network be “re-evaluated” to “assess the suitability of current monitoring bores including age of bore infrastructure and quality/similarity of monitoring data provided”.

Water flowing down the Todd River in Alice Springs following rain in April. Picture: Gera Kazakov

The report also recommends more bores are needed, alongside a groundwater survey and investigation into potential contamination from PFAS chemicals around the airport.

Dr Irvine supported an improved monitoring program, as “improving the understanding of the resource is the best way to determine how to best manage it”.

“The detailed understanding that a focused monitoring program can provide will help to inform the best way forward.

“With water use, balance is important. It’s vital to ensure extracting any water has both economic and ecological consequences. Ensuring that people have access to the water that they need while minimising impacts on the environment is a difficult, but important task.”

Minister for lands, planning, and environment Joshua Burgoyne directed any questions around the report to the Power and Water corporation, but defended the town’s tap water.

“I have been drinking the tap water in Alice Springs by the gallon for my entire life, and I will continue to do so moving forward,” he said.

Originally published as High heavy metal content, faeces found: Report calls for better groundwater monitoring in Alice Springs