Junee residents see a sudden resurgence in water discolouration

Parts of Junee periodically experience sedimentary water for a variety of reasons. 

Predominately, the cause is the groundwater’s fluctuating metal levels. 

Residents living downstream of the water mains tend to receive the heaviest amount of discoloured water.

A lot of the time, running a tap for several minutes at a time can flush the discolouration from the pipes. 

But for Junee resident Debie Heritage, this has not been the case of late.

For the past two months, her water has consistently run murky and brown. 

Managing a household of several school-aged children, and a three-month-old daughter, Ms Heritage has had no end of difficulties.

“On days when it’s really bad, I can’t wash the clothes so end up having more work to do the next day.

“It just adds to the workload. You don’t want to send the kids to school in brown shirts, so you have to spend an hour soaking them in Nappisan then wash them again another day because it didn’t clean the first time.”

But of greater concern to Ms Heritage is her children’s health.

“It’s really bad trying to bath the baby in dirty water, but I have no choice,” she said.

“She can’t go a day without a bath, so even when it’s brown I have to put her in it.

“I just try to not let her touch the bottom, where all the dirt settles.”

Ms Heritage has purchased several water filters to rectify her dirty water woes. 

At $250 a piece, the sediment in the water means the filters expire within a couple months. 

She has also taken to purchasing bottled water for her family.

“My partner has drunk it, he said he can taste the difference,” Ms Heritage said.

“It just makes you wonder when you see all that thick dirt in it if we’re drinking it, what is it doing to us? I really don’t like sterilising the baby’s bottle in it.”

Regardless of its appearance though, the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines assures that it is still safe to drink. 

Nevertheless, the independent water board that operates Junee’s supply, Goldenfields Water, will deliver up to 1000 litres of drinkable water at a discount price to homes affected by discolouration.

In cases where a resident has been lumped with discoloured clothes due to washing in dirty water, the Goldenfields team are committed to personally delivering whitening products to aid in re-wash efforts. 

When contacted for comment, Goldenfields spokespeople expressed concerns that residents rarely contact them for assistance. 

Only once an incident has been lodged can it be rectified. 

In response to a series of calls from the Coolamon area, Goldenfields Water has scheduled a planned water outage to address the ongoing problems.

Residents north of the railway have been notified that on October 17, there will be cuts to supply overnight.

Goldenfields Water operates through Temora to govern the water utilities in Junee, Bland, Coolamoon and parts of Cootamundra-Gundagai, Hilltops and Narrandera.

The service line may be contacted on 6977 3200, or on the 24 hour emergency hotline, 1800 800 917.