WaterNSW shuts Blue Mountains dam over elevated traces of PFAS
Water authorities in New South Wales have closed a dam in the Blue Mountains after tests showed an elevated level of forever chemicals.
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00:00Water authorities in New South Wales have made the decision to disconnect the Medlow
00:06Dam in the Blue Mountains from the water network after they discovered slightly elevated levels
00:12of PFAS chemicals within the water supply.
00:15Medlow Dam was one of five dams tested in the Blue Mountains and was the only one to
00:20show those recorded levels of PFAS.
00:23Those tests in recent days were necessitated by results published earlier this month showing
00:27low levels of PFAS chemicals at several key water filtration sites across Sydney's water
00:32network.
00:33PFAS chemicals are a group of chemicals often used in fire suppression foam due to their
00:38resistance to heat, stains, grease and water.
00:42However, they take a long time to break down and can travel via water over long distances
00:47and there has been concerns raised recently over their effect, particularly the link to
00:51cancer.
00:52The ABC understands the level recorded at Medlow Dam is 0.09 micrograms per litre which
00:59exceeds the Australian guidelines of 0.07 micrograms per litre.
01:04New South Wales Water will be conducting an investigation into how that chemical came
01:09to be in the dam and how it's affecting the water supply.