RESULTS from quality testing conducted on Tasmania’s drinking water supplies should be made available in real-time, the state opposition and Greens say.
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TasWater currently publishes the data on an annual basis, but has plans to move towards issuing a quarterly report.
Pioneer resident Tim Slade bought his home in the town in 2009 – three years before a do not consume notice was introduced, and said it had never crossed his mind that his water might be contaminated with lead despite later discovering Ben Lomond Water (now part of TasWater) had previously recorded high lead results in the town.
He has been calling for TasWater to publish their data in real-time, arguing that it would be “cheap and easy.”
“The real-time publication of drinking water data is in the best interests of everybody. This data belongs to the citizens of Tasmania,” Mr Slade said.
Mr Slade his written to the Tasmanian Ombudsman with his concerns, saying he believes transparency should be improved at the water authority.
TasWater has said real-time publication would be challenging due to the volume of data involved.
Greens Bass MHA Andrea Dawkins said TasWater needed to prioritise building a transparent, sustainable model.
“If we take the example of Rosebery from last summer, the water coming out of the taps was deeply stained and caused the community considerable distress,” she said.
“If real time data was published, people would be able to access information as to the reason behind the discolouration. The cause for the discolouration was not notifiable.”
Ms Dawkins introduced a motion to conduct an inquiry into water governance in Tasmania to parliament last week, however the motion was defeated.
Opposition leader Bryan Green spoke on the motion, saying some Tasmanians were not satisfied that they were receiving data about the quality of their drinking water.
“The point is made well by the Greens and others that in a first world country we should be assured the water we are drinking is potable and not going to contaminate us,” he said.
“We would appreciate the minister considering at least a discussion with TasWater to provide a better regime when it comes to real time data for drinking water.”
When Local Government Minister Peter Gutwein was asked whether he would support a real-time model for water quality publication a spokesman for the minister said the issue was a matter for TasWater and the state’s 29 councils.
A TasWater spokesman said the organisation already publishes all water testing data in an annual report, and was preparing to pilot a quarterly reporting program, similar to Sydney Water.
“Customers and stakeholders will have plenty of opportunity to provide feedback on the format, content and frequency of reporting during the pilot,” he said.
“TasWater collects and analyses around 15,000 water tests each month/180,000 per annum.”
