Winning with water in Winnaleah

Winnaleah is celebrating the removal of the Do Not Consume notice by the Department of Health and Human Services, following extensive testing by TasWater.
Winnaleah is the fifth and final town supplied by the $14 million Ringarooma Valley Drinking Water Scheme to come off a public health alert in recent weeks.
Ringarooma, Legerwood, Branxholm, Derby and Winnaleah are all supplied by new $4 million Ringarooma water treatment plant which incorporates nano filtration, along with ultra violet and chlorine disinfection to provide water which meets Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
The Winnaleah supply was originally raw untreated water sourced from two groundwater bores near the town. The Do Not Consume alert was placed on the town in 2014 following the detection of lead in the water supply.
The first response was to change the town water source to the Winnaleah Irrigation Scheme and implement a Boil Water Alert. However, in response to the community’s preference, the supply was returned to the bore and the Do Not Consume alert was implemented.
Winnaleah is now connected to the Ringarooma water treatment plant where the water is sourced from the Upper Ringarooma Irrigation Dam.
Construction began in mid-2015 on 30 kilometres of pipeline and later that year on the new water treatment plant which delivers treated water to reservoirs in Ringarooma, Winnaleah and Derby.
With the public health alert lifted in Winnaleah, TasWater has delivered water supply solutions to almost three and a half thousand people in 10 regional towns since announcing the 24 Glasses campaign last August.
TasWater chairman, Miles Hampton is thrilled the Ringarooma Scheme is providing safe, quality drinking water to Winnaleah and another four connected towns.
“We are excited for the residents of Winnaleah to receive safe drinking water. TasWater committed to providing drinking water solutions for 24 regional towns across Tasmania by August 2018 as part of our 24 Glasses campaign and the completion of the Ringarooma scheme shows we are delivering on our promises.”
“The Ringarooma water treatment plant with 30 kilometres of pipeline to the five towns has been a significant investment for this regional area and will provide a boost to the local businesses and tourism in the North East.” Mr Hampton said.
“It’s proof TasWater is getting on with the job of improving drinking water quality across the state.” Mr Hampton said.
For more information on TasWater’s progress in removing permanent public health alerts from 24 regional towns across Tasmania, visit 24glasses.com.au
TasWater