TAMWORTH Regional Council conducted a survey to establish a priority list of homes in need of water.

Those who rely solely on bore water are at the top of the list.

Deliveries of water were made to homes on Wednesday night, and some rainwater tanks that had been topped up with bore water were emptied and refilled with fresh water.

The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) is investigating the leak and whether the store owners were following the proper regulations.

EPA Far West acting manager Lindsay Fulloon would not comment on the specifics of the investigation.

“There is a regulation called the Underground Petroleum Storage System Regulation – it is the responsibility of the individual operators to comply with that regulation and that is the focus of the investigation,” Mr Fulloon said.

Council acting general manager Peter Thompson said the owners of the Woolomin Gold Rush Store had been “very cooperative”.

“They’re very regretful about the situation,” Mr Thompson said. “They were very professional about it. As soon as they noticed, they drained the tank and reported it to us.”

Council is leading the response to the leak and is being supported by the EPA, the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and NSW Health.

“DPI is currently modelling and they have quite a few resources applied to this to help us with the investigation,” mayor Col Murray said.

Council will apply for funding from the EPA and DPI to cover the costs of the clean-up and providing the town with treated water.

No one is believed to have drunk the contaminated water.