ROMA residents must boil their drinking water after an emergency alert was sent out to advise a reservoir had been contaminated by E. coli.
Australian Drinking Water Guidelines specify no Escherichia coli, normally found in the faeces of humans or other warm-blooded animals, should be present in 100ml of drinking water. “Detection of E. coli in the drinking water system is a serious issue,” the guidelines state.
“It only happened this morning that a positive test came back,” Cr Schefe said.
Starting around the Roma Hospital, which accommodates up to 99 beds, the affected zone travels west to include remote properties that run parallel to the Warrego Highway.
Investigations indicated the outbreak was caused by a defunct bore that started filling a reservoir with raw water after an electrical fault triggered a release.
Council, which has started flushing the water mains while increasing the chlorine dose, immediately started working with Queensland Health to rectify the problem.