As Yass residents may have noticed throughout their letterboxes over the last week, Yass Valley Council has invited residents to comment on the much-discussed issue of the Yass water quality through a Your Water Quality Matters Survey. The survey asks residents what they think about Yass water, as well as asking questions about water bills, alternative water sources, and provides information about the treatment plant and plans to upgrade the facility.
Beginning the survey is the most noticeable and discussed issue facing Yass’s water, the discolouration of tap water. Residents are asked if the water has affected them throughout the June 2022 – June 2023 period, as well as asking specifics in terms of how many times the issue occurred and whether contact was made to Yass Council.
Moving onto costs regarding water, residents are given the opportunity to report their water bills, with the variety including during the summer (listed as February) and winter time (listed as June), before then asking for information regarding water sources including town and street.
For those in the Yass Valley who make use of filters, boilers, rainwater tanks or who simply buy shop or bottled water, the survey allows for you to state and specify the use of water for cooking, washing and drinking. Residents are also invited to include details on their hot water system, including frequency of repair/replacement.
The survey then asks perhaps the most important question of which particular aspect concerns residents most about the Yass Valley water. This list includes discolouration, smell, taste, ruined laundry, pressure issues, blocked metres and pipes, calcification in shower heads and hot water, or any other issues they can report.
Moving beyond the questionnaire, the survey also provides residents with information regarding works to date and how feedback will be used.
Council notes that upon a review/assessment carried out in 2019, Council, in partnership with NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (more specifically, DPE Water) and NSW Health identified areas needing upgrades.
The form then cites works in planning to improve the water, including basic Stage 1 works such as an upgrade of the raw water pump station, installation of bubble plume aeration of the Yass Dam, and other urgent works at the Yass Water Treatment Plant (WTP).
Yass Council confirms that at the completion of Stage 1 objectives, they will be pursuing a business case that would see one of three options, including basic improvements, such as the replacing old equipment, or a Risk Mitigation Upgrade strategy (WTP) Augmentation which would see new chemical storage, dosing agents, replacing of old equipment and power supply, modification to existing reservoirs, disinfection, filter improvements, softening equipment and new water storage.
Feedback from the survey, including highlighted issues and preferred solutions, will be collated and used in a summary report to go along with an evaluation report and final business case in December 2023 to upgrade the valley’s water.
For those who did not receive this survey, residents can contact Yass Council to receive a form, which is to be completed and submitted by the 1st of September 2023.
