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Filtered water for Moorook Country Lands

27 February 2009

About 380 regional customers in the Moorook Country Lands started receiving filtered drinking water this week.

Minister for Water Security Karlene Maywald says work on the $7.3 million Moorook Country Lands Filtered Water Project has been completed as part of an extension of Stage Three of the State Government's Country Water Quality Improvement Program, to provide filtered water to regional communities.

"Communities in the Riverland south of the River Murray including Moorook Country Lands, Wunkar, Mantung and part of Murbko are now being supplied with filtered water and as a result will start to notice an improved taste, smell and colour of their water," Minister Maywald says.

"Work began on the project in September 2008 and included the construction of a new water treatment plant at Wigley Flat, near the existing Woolpunda pumping station.

"In December last year about 90 customers in Cooltong started receiving filtered River Murray water and we can now add the Moorook Country Lands region to the growing list of communities receiving higher quality water. 

"The government is committed to improving water quality for all South Australians, and smaller regional communities are no exception.

"As the current extreme drought continues, water quality in the River Murray is more at risk of potential quality issues such as algal blooms so projects like this are helping safeguard supply to our regional communities."

The State Government has committed $244 million across three stages to providing more and more regional homes with a filtered water supply including:

Stage one

- $154 million, completed in 2005, construction of 10 water treatment plants in the Riverland providing filtered water to more than 100,000 people.

Stage two

- $36m, completed in stages from 2003 to 2007, filtered water provided to the northern Adelaide Hills, Mt Pleasant, Springton, Eden Valley, Birdwood, Gumeracha and Paringa.

Stage three

- a $54 million project to provide filtered River Murray water to 17 communities in the Riverland and Murraylands including Blanchetown, Cadell, Callington, Cowirra, Glossop, Kanmantoo, Kingston-on-Murray, Mannum Country Lands, Monash, Moorook, Mypolonga, Neeta, Palmer, Pompoota, Swan Reach, Tungkillo and Wall Flat.

In November 2006, the government announced it would fast-track the third stage of the project in response to impacts the extreme drought in the Murray-Darling Basin may have on water quality. It was complete in January 2008.

In addition, Cooltong and Moorook Country Lands are now receiving filtered water.