Raising a glass to clean water
THE towns of Scamander and Derby are reaping the benefits of clean drinking water.
Scamander has been a holiday destination for decades, ideally located in the northern part of one of Tasmania’s most iconic road trips, the Great Eastern Drive.
But the town has also been one of several Tasmanian localities that have experienced problems with its water supply over the years.
As well as regular water shortages that had become common to the East Coast, Scamander had also experienced shortfalls in its treatment system and reticulation network, resulting in the need for people to boil their drinking water.
To fix Scamander’s problem, TasWater upgraded the town’s water system, spending over $2 million since taking control of the system, and Scamander’s boil water alert was removed just before Christmas in 2016.
The upgrade enhanced pretreatment of the water, added a new membrane treatment system, developed the electronic monitoring of the plant’s operation and included some new water mains and pumps to improve pressure.
Eighteen months on, Heidi Howe of Carmens Inn at Scamander says the improved quality of water has brought benefits to the town.
“It makes things a bit easier when welcoming guests,” she said. “Previously it was something I always had to bring up when booking people in — making sure they knew not to drink the water or clean their teeth using water from the tap.”
Graeme Gill of the Pelican Sands Motel agrees, saying guests in the past had sometimes been surprised that despite Scamander’s beautiful environment, it was necessary to boil the water for drinking.
“There still is the odd guest who will ask whether the water is fit to drink,’’ he said. “It’s certainly better that you don’t have to comment on that particular issue.”
The town of Derby has also seen improvements after its boil water alert was removed 12 months ago. Jan Rainbird of the Crank It Cafe said having good water is a big step forward for Derby’s tourism.
“They [tourists] need to know they can come here and get clean water to drink and it cuts down on the cost too because a lot of people would buy water to drink,” she said.
TasWater chief executive Michael Brewster said it was great to hear that the work TasWater is doing is making a difference and he is looking forward to removing all drinking water health alerts by the end of next month.
“For so many of us drinking water straight from the tap is taken for granted and we forget how it can impact on everyday things,” Mr Brewster said.
“At TasWater we are very aware of this and have been working hard to fix Tasmania’s underperforming water systems.
“TasWater has spent much of our $100 million-plus annual infrastructure investment over the last five years doing just that and I look forward to removing all drinking water health alerts by the end of next month.”