Annual report on drinking water quality in Victoria 2014–15
Partners in providing safe drinking water
Annual report on drinking water quality in Victoria 2014–15
Partners in providing safe drinking water
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© State of Victoria, Department of Health and Human Services, February, 2016
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Secretary’s foreword
I am pleased to present the Department of Health and Human Services Annual report on drinkingwater quality in Victoria 2014–15.
Our communities’ health and wellbeing are underpinned by safe and reliable drinking water supplies. The Safe Drinking Water Act 2003 provides the framework whereby the department, as the regulator of drinking water quality, can ensure the safety of supplies for the future by working in partnership with the water industry.
The regulatory approach of the department drives continuous improvement of the systems in place, assuring the safety and quality of drinking water to the 95 per cent of Victorians serviced by a reticulated drinking water supply.
This approach has again achieved a high rate of compliance in 2014–15, with 99 per cent of those supplied receiving water that met drinking water quality standards. Five and a half million Victorians received high-quality, drinking water through reticulated supplies.
Additionally, the number of notifi cations made to the department under s.22 of the Safe Drinking Water Act was the lowest on record; 38 per cent less than last year.
While I am pleased with the achievements of increased compliance and reduced notifi cations, there is still more work ahead to manage the ongoing challenges concerning the provision of safe
drinking water. Together with the water industry, we can drive future system improvements to assure communities that these challenges will be well managed.
This year, the department has invested considerable time in the development of the Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2015, which commenced operation on 18 July 2015. Partnerships with Victorian water businesses and other government departments supported this process which guarantees a safe drinking water regulatory framework that will continue to operate effectively into the future.
I look forward to the year ahead in which the Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2015 will be implemented. The department is committed to continuing to work with the water industry to improve the health and wellbeing of Victorians through the delivery of safe and affordable drinking water supplies.
Kym Peake
Secretary
Department of Health and Human Services
Contents
Introduction / 1Highlights and achievements 2014–15 / 2
A collaborative approach to water regulation / 3
Victoria’s safe drinking water regulatory framework / 4
The role of the Minister for Health / 4
The role of the Department of Health and Human Services / 5
The role of water businesses / 6
Proactively protecting public health / 8
Risk management plans / 9
Drinking water quality standards / 10
Competency framework for water treatment operators / 11
Regulated water / 11
Drinking water quality performance 2014–15 / 12
Compliance with the drinking water quality standards / 12
Exemptions from the drinking water quality standards / 13
Notifications / 13
Undertakings / 16
Draft Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2015 / 17
Analysis of discussion paper submissions / 17
Regulatory Impact Statement and draft Regulations / 17
Public comment / 17
Outcomes / 17
Working with our partners to protect public health / 18
Water industry liaison / 18
Community water fluoridation / 19
Blue-green algae / 20
Emergency management preparedness / 21
Recycled water / 21
Water plans / 22
Education and promotion / 23
Providing advice and guidance / 23
Advocacy and representation / 24
Financial statement / 25
The department’s expenditure on drinking water safety / 25
Future challenges / 26
Water security / 26
Operational performance monitoring / 27
Fluoride optimisation / 27
Making tap water the drink of choice / 28
Appendix 1: Contact details for water businesses / 29
Appendix 2: Water sampling localities not meeting drinking water quality standards
2014–15 / 30
Appendix 3: Regulated water declarations / 31
Appendix 4: Water business assets visited by Water Program staff 2014–15 / 32
Appendix 5: Education and promotion activities 2014–15 / 33
Presentations and workshops / 33
Representation / 34
Glossary / 35
List of tables and figures
Tables
Table 1: The management of Victoria’s drinking water supply / 3Table 2: Drinking water quality standards Schedule 2 of the Safe Drinking Water Regulations / 10
Table 3: Notifications to the Department of Health and Human Services by category 2012–15 / 14
Table 4: Information provided by the Water Program by category / 23
Table 5: The department’s expenditure to administer the Safe Drinking Water Act / 25
Table 6: Contact details for water businesses / 29
Table 7: Water sampling localities non-compliant with one drinking water quality standard / 30
Table 8: Water sampling localities non-compliant with two drinking water quality standards / 30
Table 9: Current declarations for regulated water supplies at 30 June 2015 / 31
Table 10: Site visits made to water business assets by Water Program staff 2014–15 / 32
Figures
Figure 1: Victoria’s multi-jurisdictional water regulatory system / 3
Figure 2: Water storage managers’ boundaries across Victoria / 6
Figure 3: Water suppliers’ boundaries across Victoria / 7
Figure 4: Safeguarding Victoria’s drinking water supply through continuous quality improvement / 8
Figure 5: Percentage of localities compliant with drinking water quality standards 2005–15 / 12
Figure 6: Percentage of localities compliant with individual drinking water quality standards
2012–15 / 13
Figure 7: Notifications to the Department of Health and Human Services under s. 22, 2005–15 / 15
Introduction
The Safe Drinking Water Act 2003 and the Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2005 provide a framework in which the water industry and the department meet the shared goal of ensuring safe drinking water supplies.
Section 32 of the Safe Drinking Water Act requires the Secretary to the Department of Health and Human Services to provide the Minister for Health with an annual report on the quality of Victoria’s drinking water. The eleventh prepared for the minister under the Safe Drinking Water Act, this annual report summarises Victoria’s drinking water quality performance and the activities of the department during the 2014–15 reporting period.
This report recognises the partnership approach which facilitates Victoria’s safe drinking water quality record.
Section 26 of the Safe Drinking Water Act requires Victoria’s 25 water businesses to prepare annual reports which inform the public of any water quality incidents as well as detailing the quality of drinking water supplied. This annual report provides a synopsis of drinking water quality across Victoria. Individual water business annual reports are available from their websites.*
Recognising the collaborative approach which facilitates Victoria’s safe drinking water quality record, the theme of the Annual report on drinking water quality Victoria 2014–15 is ‘Partners in providing safe drinking water’.
* See Appendix 1 for contact details.
1
Highlights and achievements 2014–15
In 2014–15, the Department of Health and Human Services continued to partner with water businesses and government agencies to see further improvement in the safety and quality of the drinking water delivered to Victorians. Highlights and achievements over the 2014–15 reporting period include:
•Performance against the drinking water quality standards remained excellent throughout the period.
Of the five and a half million Victorians who received a reticulated drinking water supply, 99 per cent received drinking water that complied with the drinking water quality standards all of the time.
•The number of notifications made under s. 22 of the Safe Drinking Water Act to the department by water businesses continued to fall. A 38 per cent reduction in the number of notifications resulted in the lowest number on record.
•Water fluoridation commenced in Kilmore and Maryborough; an additional 20,000 people now benefit from this important public health initiative.
•Water Program staff engaged Ararat community groups and informed residents about the future introduction of a fluoridated water supply.
•The department published draft Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2015 and a Regulatory Impact
Statement, and undertook a consultation process with the public and water businesses. During this process the department engaged with every water business to discuss the changes proposed.
•In conjunction with the Water Industry Operators Association of Australia and VicWater, Emeritus
Professor Steve Hrudey presented a workshop Ensuring Safe Drinking Water, sharing experiences of significant water safety events around the world.
•The department’s Water Program staff presented a paper on Victoria’s response planning at the
International Conference on Harmful Algae in New Zealand.
•Water Program staff presented at the World Health Organization’s 7th meeting of the International
Network of Drinking-water Regulators in Portugal regarding Victoria’s drinking water risk management approach.
2
A collaborative approach to water regulation
Victoria’s water industry is regulated through a comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional regulatory approach to ensure that Victorians have continuous and ready access to safe drinking water.
Four government agencies are involved in planning, managing and regulating Victoria’s water resources and water businesses. Each agency has a regulatory and oversight role that is defined in various Acts of Parliament, Regulations and guidelines. Collectively, these mechanisms set the economic, environmental and social obligations water business are obliged to comply with.
Table 1: The management of Victoria’s drinking water supply
Environment Protection Protects Victoria’s waters through designing and implementing environmental
Authority Victorialaws, policies and regulatory controls to prevent pollution and protect the
environment. Administers the Environment Protection Act 1970.
Department of Environment, Ensures the sustainable management of water resources through catchment
Land, Water and Planningmanagement and resource allocation, and through governance of the water
industry, by administering the Water Act 1989.
Essential ServicesDetermines water pricing and oversees the service standards to be achieved
Commissionby Victoria’s water businesses as authorised under the Essential Services
Commission Act 2001.
Department of Health andRegulates drinking water quality to protect public health through the
Human Servicesimplementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water
Regulations 2005 and the Health (Fluoridation) Act 1973.
While each agency has a clearly defined regulatory role, there is a high level of interagency collaboration. This ensures that there is an integrated and coordinated approach to planning and oversight activities for the water industry.
Figure 1: Victoria’s multi-jurisdictional water regulatory system
Department of Health
and Human Services
Public health
Environment Protection / Water businesses / Essential ServicesAuthority Victoria / Commission
Environment / Pricing
Department of
Environment, Land,
Water and Planning
Water resources
and governance
3
Victoria’s safe drinking water regulatory framework
Victoria’s drinking water supplies are regulated under a comprehensive safe drinking water regulatory framework. The framework is concerned principally with the quality of drinking water supplies and aims to ensure a consistent, reliable supply of high-quality and safe drinking water to Victorians who have access to reticulated water. The safe drinking water regulatory framework consists of:
•the Safe Drinking Water Act
•the Safe Drinking Water Regulations.
The safe drinking water legislation requires:
•a catchment-to-tap risk management approach
•a set of drinking water quality standards
•information disclosure requirements for water businesses.
The safe drinking water regulatory framework supports the Health (Fluoridation) Act and
is consistent with the risk management approach in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (NHMRC, NRMMC 2011).1
The role of the Minister for Health
Victoria’s safe drinking water regulatory framework establishes a number of decision-making functions for the Minister for Health:
•declaring non-potable water to be regulated water
•varying aesthetic drinking water quality standards
•exempting water suppliers from complying with the drinking water quality standards
•imposing conditions in relation to varying drinking water quality standards
•setting and collecting a levy for the purpose of administering the safe drinking water regulatory framework.
1NHMRC, NRMMC 2001, Australian Drinking Water Guidelines Paper 6 National Water Quality Management Strategy, National Health and Medical Research Council, National Resource Management Ministerial Council, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
4
The role of the Department of Health and Human Services
The department has an important role in safeguarding drinking water and facilitating the safe use of regulated water (non-potable water which may be mistaken for drinking water) to protect public health and wellbeing.
The Secretary to the department is the authority designated under s. 3 of the Safe Drinking Water Act to administer Victoria’s safe drinking water regulatory framework. The specific functions of the Secretary as prescribed in s. 27 of the Safe Drinking Water Act are to:
•protect public health in relation to the supply of drinking water
•monitor and enforce compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Regulations
•report on the performance of water suppliers and water storage managers in relation to the requirements imposed on them under the Safe Drinking Water Act
•investigate and report on any aspect of drinking water quality in Victoria
•make recommendations to the Minister for Health on any matter relating to drinking water or regulated water
•promote industry and public awareness and understanding of drinking water quality issues.
The Secretary can enter into undertakings with water businesses to achieve particular requirements related to drinking water quality and can provide directions to a business if there is a risk to public health. The department has a dedicated Water Program team that administers Victoria’s safe drinking water regulatory framework on behalf of the Secretary.
Water Program
The department’s Water Program is a division of the Health Protection Branch. The Water Program’s regulatory approach is based on maintaining up-to-date knowledge about health-related drinking water risk management together with fair, transparent and effective regulatory oversight.
The activities of the Water Program include:
•reviewing and assessing the health significance of notifications made to the department under s. 18 and s. 22 of the Safe Drinking Water Act
•providing guidance and advice to water businesses on drinking water quality issues
•working with water businesses that are found to be noncompliant with the Safe Drinking Water Act or the Safe Drinking Water Regulations
•reviewing technical reports for water fluoridation dosing plants and endorsing management plans for certain recycled water schemes
•overseeing fluoridation delivery system technologies to ensure reliability in terms of safety and desired oral health benefits
•leading the Victorian Government’s emergency response during emergencies related to the contamination of drinking water supplies
•preparing and distributing guidance material on aspects of the safe drinking water regulatory framework
•keeping up-to-date with current research and emerging drinking water quality issues, and contributing to research
•providing input into national guidelines and policy development
•advocating and raising awareness across government, industry and the community on public health and wellbeing issues related to drinking water.
5
The role of water businesses
The Safe Drinking Water Act places obligations on Victoria’s water businesses to provide safe, good-quality drinking water. The Act is applicable to a range of declared water businesses and other statutory authorities that supply drinking water to the public, including Parks Victoria and alpine resort management boards.
At 30 June 2015 there were 25 water businesses regulated by the department under the safe drinking water regulatory framework. The Act defines two types of water business – water suppliers and water storage managers.
Water storage managers
Water storage managers store water that is supplied to water suppliers. Water may be treated by water suppliers or water storage managers to drinking water standard prior to supply. There are four water storage managers in Victoria. Three supply untreated water to water suppliers and one undertakes treatment and supplies drinking water to water suppliers.
Figure 2: Water storage managers’ boundaries across Victoria
Water storage managers
Bulk water entitlements managed by Goulburn-Murray Water
Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water*
Goulburn-Murray Water
Southern Rural Water
Melbourne Water
*Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water is both a water supplier and water storage manager.
6
Water suppliers
Water suppliers supply drinking water to about 95 per cent of Victoria’s population. Most water suppliers are responsible for treating water to drinking water standard. Some water suppliers also manage regulated water supplies. Regulated water is water that is not drinking water, but could be mistaken for drinking water. For example, untreated reticulated water that is used for irrigation, stock, or for non-drinking domestic uses.