Towers water is all- clear
WATER testing results for the Charters Towers region have returned an all- clear.
Charters Towers Acting Mayor Sonia Bennetto said she was “very conscious” of how significant the importance of thorough and ongoing water testing for PFAS substances in drinking water supplies was.
Tests were carried out for PFAS — a group of chemicals known as per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances — on the drinking water in Charters Towers, Greenvale, Pentland and Ravenswood as “PFAS substances is an emerging risk to water supplies across the country”.
Cr Bennetto said the chemical substances were an emerging risk as there was concern given that historically, chemicals had been more prevalent in some regions.
Per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances ( PFAS) are a group of man- made chemicals that have been widely used since the 1950s in household and industrial products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease and water.
Cr Bennetto said the testing — carried out by Australian Laboratory Services — was a complex process, however, with no way of preventing a positive chemical result, the best approach was early detection.
Monitoring was an important step in meeting Department of Health guidelines for safe water.
PFAS has been found in Townsville, near Ingham and in Ayr this year.