Austrlian Bush fires threaten drinking water safety – and the consequences could last decades

Ns News Online Desk: Australia may facing serious problem of drinking water — As well as disrupting supply infrastructure, fires can damage catchments, causing contamination that not even boiling can remove. Adapting now is critical Bush fires pose serious short- and long-term impacts to public drinking water quality. They can damage water supply infrastructure and water catchments, impeding the treatment processes that normally make water safe to drink. Several areas in New South Wales and Victoria have already been issued with warnings about the quality of their drinking water.

Bushfires can damage or disrupt water supply infrastructure as they burn. And the risks can persist after the fires are out.A loss of power, for example, disables important water treatment processes such as chlorine disinfection, needed to kill microorganisms and make  water safe to drink.

Drinking water for the towns of Eden and Boydtown on the NSW south coast has been affected in this way over recent days. Residents have been advised to boil their water before drinking it and using it for cooking, teeth brushing, and so on. Other towns including Cobargo and Bermagui received similar warnings on New Year’s Eve.

In some cases, untreated water, straight from a river supply, may be fed directly into drinking water systems. Water treatment plants are bypassed completely, due to damage, power loss or an inability to keep pace with high volumes of water required for firefighting.Untreated river water, or river water which has not been properly disinfected with chlorine, is usually not safe for drinking in Australia. Various types of bacteria, as well as the parasites giardia and cryptosystem, could be in such water.

Animals including cattle, camel,  birds and kangaroos can excrete these microorganisms into river water. Septic tanks and sewage treatment plants may also discharge effluents into waterways, adding harmful microorganisms.

Human infection with these microorganisms can cause a range of illnesses, including gastrointestinal diseases with symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting.Severe impacts to waterways may not occur until after intense rainfall. Heavy rain can wash ash and eroded soil from the fires into waterways, affecting drinking water supplies downstream.

In the mean time the Australian Government dcelared they decided to kill about ten thousands camels, they thinks these camels are burden for their economy.