Better safe than sorry? Do you travel with bottled water?
Amidst concern over the standard of drinking water in the NT town of Katherine, the Territory’s Chief Minister, Michael Gunner, has sought to reassure grey nomads that it is still perfectly safe to drink.
It was recently revealed that PFAS chemicals contained in firefighting foams and used at the Tindal RAAF Base between 1998 and 2004 had leached into neighbouring bores and the town’s drinking water. The Katherine Times reports that the local water treatment plant uses a mix of Katherine River supplies and bore water to produce the town’s supplies. Those treatment bores have PFAS concentrations above the new Australia safe drinking standards.
It is feared that some Katherine residents have been drinking contaminated for years already, and will possibly do so years into the future.
However, Mr Gunner said he was assured water restrictions and other government water saving measures would enable water authorities to produce safe drinking water for Katherine through the peak use periods of September and October.
He told the Katherine Times that he was particularly concerned not to alarm residents and tourists, especially grey nomads, into thinking that they needed to drink bottled water.
“I am assured the water in Katherine is safe to drink,” Mr Gunner said. “I will be drinking the water here before I leave here today.”
He said his government had not discussed the provision of any other emergency water supplies for Katherine if contamination levels rose.
* Are you wary about the quality of the water you drink while in remote areas? Do you ever buy bottled water as an ‘insurance policy?’ Comment below.
We’ve been FullTime Caravanning for 15 yrs with a Dual 10″ filtration system and never bought a single bottle of over the counter water.
We’ve been in caravan parks way back in 2003 where everyone else in the park had upset stomachs from the town water but we never had a problem.
My wife has a feeble stomach for Poor water quality and the system we have has worked 100% for her over the 15 yrs around the country.
like you Kevin; we have never bought bottled water.
Always travel with bottled water, it is so cheap & a lot less expensive than the fancy filtration systems that are fitted to caravans these days. Bottles – simple, inexpensive, convenient & never let you down.