Glenreagh residents and businesses can expect a boil water alert to remain in place in the village for another three to four weeks.

Clarence Valley Council (CVC) and NSW Health issued a precautionary alert on October 11 due to increased turbidity levels in the drinking water.

Initial attempts to resolve the turbidity levels at the Glenreagh Water Treatment Plant have been unsuccessful, and council is actively pursuing replacement filtration system options.

“We are currently doing everything we can to alleviate the situation as fast as possible and should have a clearer timeline by next week of when it will be resolved,” CVC Manager Water and Sewer Operations Andrew Potter said.

“Council hired a temporary filtration unit for Glenreagh in February 2023.

“While it has been effective in reducing turbidity, it has failed to return drinking water quality to the required level since we started drawing water from Shannon Creek Dam due to low flow conditions of the Nymboida River.”

Daily water samples continue to be collected for laboratory analysis with no detection of E. coli.

Ultra violet and chlorine disinfection treatment units continue to function to the required standards.

Please check the CVC website www.clarence.nsw.gov.au and Facebook page for the latest updates.

What residents should do:

• Water used for drinking or food preparation should be brought to a rolling boil to make it safe. Kettles with automatic shut off switches can do this. Water should then be allowed to cool and stored in a clean container with a lid and refrigerated. Everyone, particularly people caring for young children, should be careful to avoid scalding, when you are heating and then cooling the water.
• Bottled water or cool boiled water should be used for drinking, washing uncooked food (e.g. salad vegetables and fruit), making ice, cleaning teeth, gargling and pet’s drinking water.
• Dishes should be washed in hot soapy water or in a dishwasher.
• Children should take bottled water or cool boiled water to school/childcare.