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Water quality monitoring program

Water is tested for Cryptosporidium and Giardia according to a monitoring plan agreed to by NSW Health.

Sydney Water and Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) have instituted many changes since 1998 to improve the performance and reliability of water supply management of drinking water quality.

One of the recommendations of the McClellan Inquiry was to reassess after six months the Cryptosporidium and Giardia water quality monitoring program initiated in 1998. Over two years of water quality data has now been collected and the program has been reviewed to better focus on those areas with a risk of contamination.

The SCA's detailed risk assessment has recommended focussing on an approach which identifies and rectifies sources of risk rather than simply measuring and reporting water quality.

As a result, Sydney Water and the SCA, with the support of the independent Expert Panel and endorsement by NSW Health, have modified the monitoring program in the following ways:

• Under the SCA's "hot spot" monitoring program, more monitoring in the catchments at points where there are greater risks of contamination
• continuous monitoring of other water quality characteristics that can provide early indication of the presence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia
• "event" monitoring on sites leading into Lake Burragorang during storms or other events that cause a rise in stream water levels and could influence water quality
• continuation of monitoring of treated water for Cryptosporidium and Giardia at Warragamba, Orchard Hills and Prospect Water Filtration Plants six days a week.

Weekly monitoring of water sourced from storages other than Warragamba Dam, which are low risk. These actions support the objectives of the Sydney Water 5 Year Drinking Water Quality Management Plan, as endorsed by NSW Health. These actions are consistent with the Cryptosporidium and Giardia fact sheets in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

Savings generated by the revised program will be better allocated to protect public health by identifying possible sources of risk, improved catchment and reservoir management and water treatment and distribution.

Sydney Water is committed to ensuring that its customers are kept informed about the quality of their drinking water. Water quality reports provide detailed information to water consumers so that they can be confident about the quality of their water.

Streamwatch

Streamwatch is a school and community education and action program that raises awareness of the natural environment through testing water quality in local rivers and streams. The program empowers groups to protect the health of local waterways through their involvement in water quality monitoring.

Streamwatch groups are trained by their 'regional coordinator' to monitor the water quality in a local river/stream using a Streamwatch kit. They monitor the water quality regularly and upload their testing results onto the Streamwatch website. The provision of water quality data by Streamwatch aims to complement professional water quality testing being undertaken by local councils, Sydney Water and other stakeholders.

Since commencing in 1990 Streamwatch is the longest running of all of Sydney Water's education programs, reaching out to over 250 community and school groups that monitor water quality at over 600 sites in Sydney Water's area of operation. This translates to the involvement of around 10,000 people in quality environmental monitoring and action.

The Streamwatch program operates within Sydney Water and the Sydney Catchment Authority area of operation and each agency is responsible for the coordination of the program in their catchment areas. Streamwatch also currently works closely with NSW Waterwatch agencies in the Hunter Central River and Central West catchment management areas.

Sydney Water Streamwatch aims to educate the community about the value of water and the environment so as to achieve behavioural change and promote sustainable water management.

To get involved go to www.streamwatch.org.au.