DURI residents are being urged to refrain from using their bores as Tamworth Regional Council continues to try and remove petrol from the groundwater supply.
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Since the water was first contaminated by a leaking fuel tank from a nearby store on December 29, the council has removed the leaking tanks and installed extraction wells to help remove the fuel from the water.
The council's acting director of planning and compliance Ross Briggs said a total of 43,000 litres of water had been taken from the wells.
"Things are coming back to normal a little bit for the store, as the front awning is back on the shop and it is looking a little bit like it used to be," Mr Briggs said.
"We've still got the treatment system operations in place."
Read More:
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- Tamworth Regional Council: Duri fuel leak leads to bore use ban
- Fuel seeps into Duri water supply, investigations ongoing
- Tanks emptied testing ongoing after fuel contaminates water supply
- Groundwater contamination won't spark supply switch
As for an end date for the community, Mr Briggs said it was "a question I can't answer at the moment".
"Until we see how much fuel is continuing to come out of the water and get feedback from the consultants, we won't be able to determine if there is an end point," he said.
"We're still seeing a good deal of fuel coming through, but it's not a separated mix, it's in a dissolved state and it has to separated through various stages.
"That's what makes it harder to quantify what's coming out.
"However, the contamination doesn't seem to be as wide spread as we initially feared in the very early days, it seems to be a narrow area of spread."
Mr Briggs said the community had been co-operating with council during the process, but there was still a long way to go.
"So far, we haven't been fielding any real complaints about it, but obviously there is some inconvenience about not being able to use bores," he said.
"There has been some odor issues in some places that we have been working with the consultants on.
"Apart from those, things seem to be going okay."
Recent rainfall has ensured residents have had access to clean drinking water and has prevented the council from having to truck water into the community.
"We have been very lucky with the rain," Mr Briggs said.
"A lot of people have rainwater tanks and have been pretty self sufficient.
"Our main message to the community is we really need to stress the point of not using your bores, because the risk is you will draw the contamination to your bore, which could render your bore contaminated and potentially kill of your garden.
"So please, utilize the water that is in the tank and refrain from using your bores."
Editor's note: This story has been amended after publishing after incorrect information was supplied to media on a council-owned water tank for residents to access to fill containers for stock and garden watering.
Any questions should be directed to Tamworth council.