CITY GOES OFF TAP

FOUNTAINGATE: 80 bubblers turned off amid lead fears 30 public drinking fountains shut down last week, now 50 more to follow

WEEKS after City Hall first discovered some of its public drinking taps contained high lead levels, it has revealed another 50 are contaminated and will be turned off.

Last week, the city announced it had switched off about 30 fountains after it was found they breached national drinking water standards.

Rather than immediately moving to shut down all of the bubble taps as a precaution, it set out to test each of its 140-plus fountains. It left bubble taps operational until they were proved to be contaminated.

The lead exposure has affected fountains in more than 20 suburbs.

WEEKS after the City of Greater Geelong first discovered some of its public drinking taps contained high lead levels, it has revealed another 50 of the fountains are contaminated and will be turned off.

On Wednesday last week, council announced it had switched off about 30 public water fountains in recent weeks, after it established they breached national drinking water standards.

Rather than immediately moving to shut down all of the council-managed bubble taps as a precaution, council set out to test each of its 140-plus fountains.

It left bubble taps operational until they were proved to be contaminated.

The lead exposure is widespread, with affected fountains located in more than 20 suburbs.

Eleven of them are in central Geelong.

Late yesterday, the council announced it had completed testing of the fountains, and had “found 80 with levels of lead above the Federal Government’s National Health and Medical Research Council Australian Drinking Water Guidelines”.

The council has engaged plumbers to disable the affected fountains — from Lara down to the Bellarine Peninsula — in a process that could take a week to complete.

Victoria’s chief medical officer Charles Guest has warned that the issue could have ramifications for councils across Victoria.

“Once the results of the Geelong investigation are available, the relevant state government departments and agencies may be required to co-ordinate a statewide response,” he said.

The region’s wider water supply is safe, with the lead leaching coming from the public drinking fountain infrastructure.

“People don’t need to worry if they’ve recently used a public drinking fountain in Greater Geelong,” the council said in a statement yesterday.

“While the levels of lead detected are above the health guideline value in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, they are not of immediate concern as drinking water fountains are not the main source of drinking water.”

Mayor Bruce Harwood said authorities suspected the lead leaching was related to the plumbing of the fountains, and affected those that were used less frequently.

“I don’t think there is any particular age or style of fountain that is affected more than others,” he said.

Cr Harwood doesn’t believe the fountains will have to be ripped out and fully replaced, with experts to determine how to avoid any lead leaching from the internal fittings.

“It will be figuring out what tapware we can put in those particular fountains that won’t give us the same problem.”

Council began spot testing its public drinking fountains in late March.

After scores of high lead levels were recorded — some more than three times the national guideline — a full testing program began last month.

Council made the issue public only last week.

The council has been tagging the turned off taps with an “out of order” sticker.

An official council investigation is continuing, in conjunction with Barwon Water, the Victorian Building Authority, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.