November 7, 2018
Toowoomba Regional Council has closed Perseverance Dam to the public until further notice as a precautionary move due to elevated levels of E. coli bacteria.
Water and Waste portfolio holder Cr Bill Cahill said Council officers were satisfied the increased bacterial numbers were due to an environmental phenomenon rather than contamination of the dam water.
“Council will erect signage indicating the areas are closed to the public until further notice. Council are also notifying relevant stakeholders in the area of the closure,” Cr Cahill said.
“The bacteria represent no risk to drinking water supplies as they are removed by the water treatment and disinfection process.”
Cr Cahill said the dam was monitored weekly for algae and microbiological factors, including E. coli.
“We also test chemical parameters such as iron, manganese, alkalinity, hardness, ammonia, nitrate, colour, turbidity and phosphate,” he said.
“When a weekly test returns a result below the minimum recognised safety level for E. Coli council will increase its testing to daily.
“Council will re-open affected areas as soon as measured levels are below the recognised safety standards.”
UPDATE: The Dam was re-opened on Friday, November 30.
