The state government will commission a new mobile filtration plant to clean up tap water supplies in the Blue Mountains that have been tainted by a plume of cancer-linked “forever chemicals”.
The $3.4 million filtration unit is already being installed at the Cascade Water Filtration Plant in Katoomba, which supplies drinking water to nearly 50,000 residents across the area on the World Heritage List.
A new mobile water filtration plant will be installed at Katoomba to remove cancer-linked PFAS contaminants from tap-water supplies. Credit: Wolter Peeters
The plant will deploy granular activated carbon and ion exchange resin technology to purify the water.
The per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS) were discovered at elevated levels in Blue Mountains drinking water supplies after a Herald investigation in June pressured the state government into testing.
The article challenged authorities’ assumptions there were “no known PFAS hotspots in our drinking-water catchments”.
After initially dismissing the Herald’s reporting, authorities quietly commissioned tests that revealed the true extent of the contamination.
Levels have been detected in the Cascade Water Filtration Plant that would breach Australia’s proposed new drinking-water guidelines for forever chemicals, set to be finalised by April next year.
The new filtration technologies are expected to significantly reduce PFAS levels and ensure Sydney Water can comply with the new guidelines.
“It is important that communities are confident in the knowledge that they have access to safe and secure water, and this new technology will help us in those efforts,” NSW Minister for Water Rose Jackson said.
“We will continue to support our water authorities across the state to deliver the highest-quality drinking water to every home and business.”
Jon Dee, who leads the local STOP-PFAS action group, saw the move as proof the state government knew it needed to act to make the region’s drinking water safe again.
“This is a great win for the Blue Mountains community and The Sydney Morning Herald’s push to reduce our community’s exposure to forever chemicals,” he said.
NSW Water Minister Rose Jackson. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
The source of the contamination in the drinking water is yet to be identified, but independent tests have linked it to a 1992 petrol tanker crash on the Great Western Highway.
The plant is expected to be fully operational by the end of this year.
Granular activated carbon traps PFAS contaminants due to its porous structure, while ion exchange resin swaps unwanted ions, such as PFAS, with safer ions.
“While PFAS treatment is still an evolving field, we are leading the way with new ideas, such as this one, to ensure the continued delivery of world-class drinking water across the Sydney Water network,” Sydney Water managing director Roch Cheroux said.
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