Hunter Water manages the Lower Hunter region’s ‘catchment-to-tap’ water supply. For the last eight years, it has been monitoring its water supply for PFAS, and the results demonstrate that the drinking water it supplies to customers and the community is safe.
Alongside other water authorities, Hunter Water is reviewing the details in the updated draft guidelines released by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) today for community feedback.
A review of Hunter Water’s historical water quality monitoring data for the region’s distribution network indicates that its drinking water complies with the proposed new PFAS guidelines and is safe to drink under both the current and proposed future PFAS guidelines.
Hunter Water is committed – as it always is – to supplying high-quality, safe drinking water that complies with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG). Its operating licence, issued by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), requires Hunter Water to comply with the ADWG and IPART audits the utility each year to evaluate overall compliance with the operating licence.
Under its extensive water quality monitoring program, Hunter Water routinely tests for PFAS in all our drinking water supply zones. Hunter Water needs to report all detections over 0.002 micrograms per litre, or 2 parts per trillion, its independent laboratory’s reporting limit. The testing program confirms that the drinking water supplied by Hunter Water is safe and meets the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
To give it some perspective, one part per trillion (ppt) equals a single drop of water in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools, which is about 0.05 millilitres. An Olympic-sized swimming pool holds 2.5 million litres of water, equivalent to 50 billion drops of water.
Water quality monitoring results are summarised and publicly available on the Hunter Water website, with further information available at www.hunterwater.com.au/pfas
Further information regarding PFAS, including advice from health agencies, is available on the NSW Government’s website at www.nsw.gov.au/pfas
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