Narrabri Shire Council will test its water for uranium next week, following the news two bores in the Tamworth Regional Council area have shown elevated levels for up to two years.

“Due to the issues which have come to light in Tamworth, Narrabri Shire Council will be including uranium in its testing, due next Tuesday,” a council spokesperson said.

So far it is the only council in the New England region to change its testing regime.

NSW Health does not require councils to test for uranium, but the NSW government has “endorsed” the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, which recommends testing annually.

Moree Plains Shire council said it had no reason to believe its water contained uranium, so it therefore does not test for it.

“We have no reasonable basis to consider that our water supplies would contain uranium, so there is no current plan to extend our testing regime,” Moree’s water and waste manager David Wolfenden said.

“If and when this position changes, we would of course review the testing we commission.”

Inverell Shire Council said it did not routinely test for uranium specifically.

Inverell’s environmental engineering manger Graham Benedich said every five years council was required to test for radioactive species and those test would be undertaken this financial year.

However, less than one per cent of the most radioactive components of naturally occurring uranium is found in the ground.

Liverpool Plains Shire Council said it met the standards set by NSW Health. Walcha Shire Council doesn’t do its own testing, instead sending water samples twice a year to the NSW Health Institute of Public Health in Sydney. Armidale Regional, Gunnedah, Uralla, Glen Innes and Tenterfield councils did not provide an answer when questioned by The Leader.