ACT 2024 Drinking Water Quality Report released
Icon Water has released its latest annual ACT Drinking Water Quality Report for the period July 2023 to June 2024 which outlines the work we do every day to prevent biological, chemical and physical hazards from impacting our water supply, from catchment to tap.
In monitoring the water supplied to our customers we collected 1,205 unique samples, tested for up to 177 parameters returning a total of 37,556 test results. 100% of applicable test results were compliant with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG) health values determined by the independent National Health and Medical Research Council.
Throughout 2023–24 between 100 and 220 megalitres (ML) of drinking water was produced per day for customers in the ACT and supplied to the areas of Queanbeyan and Googong.
Speaking on the release of the report, Icon Water General Manager Customer Engagement, Davina McCormick, said “Water quality is a focus 24 hours 7 days a week at Icon Water. That’s how we approach our responsibility to our customers.
“We understand that recent media reports have raised concerns about PFAS levels in Australian drinking water and confirm there have been no detections in the drinking water supplied from either of our treatment plants. While this is good news, it does not mean that we are taking a step backwards in our testing and monitoring as we continue to maintain our vigilance into the future.
“Icon Water maintains a precautionary approach to PFAS staying abreast of the science and has performed testing in its water supply catchments as early as 2016. We have been conducting routine annual sampling for PFAS in our source water since 2020 and this year commenced additional testing of water supplied from our treatment plants.”
Key Findings:
- There have been no detections of PFAS in the drinking water at the Stromlo and Googong Treatment Plants from tests conducted between June 2024 and September 2024.
- Our testing is conducted by an independent, National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accredited laboratory.
- Improved testing limits can now detect levels of PFAS equivalent to one drop in ten Olympic swimming pools worth of water.
- On 13 June 2024 testing of untreated source water (dams and rivers) returned ultra-low results for one type of PFAS in some locations. These were well below ADWG limits and most likely caused by a testing process issue on that day. PFAS has not been detected in the most recent updated tests of these sources.
“These results are a credit to the hard work of many who all help protect our catchments, and manage water quality every day, 24/7.
“We are thankful for the positive working relationships we have with land managers in the ACT and NSW and other government agencies who all contribute to managing the catchments that our water comes from,” Davina McCormick said.
Icon Water has updated the PFAS information on its website publishing additional information and data on PFAS test results, beyond the requirements of the Annual Drinking Water Quality report. The source water and drinking water test results released today cover the period 2016 to September 2024.
“PFAS chemicals are in a number of consumer goods, and unfortunately these chemicals have been found across the world in the environment,” Ms McCormick said.
“The testing limit for PFAS has improved over time and this year we adopted a more sensitive methodology to be able to test for the most prevalent types down to as low as 0.002 micrograms per litre. This level of testing means the instrumentation can detect down to the equivalent of one drop in ten Olympic swimming pools worth of water.”
The testing methodology and instrumentation provided by the independent, NATA accredited laboratory is unable to detect PFAS concentrations below this limit.
FURTHER INFORMATION ON PFAS TESTING
Canberra’s water supply catchments contain predominantly conservation and low intensity agricultural land use activities, without industrial activities typically associated with PFAS generation. This puts us in a good starting position for raw water quality.
Despite Canberra’s lower risk profile, Icon Water has for many years been conducting broad ranging monitoring, including for PFAS, in its water supply catchments.
Statement ends