Drinking Water Quality Policy

Purpose. This policy states the commitment of CAQA ClearFlow Water to supplying safe drinking water and sets out the framework through which that commitment is met.

1.Commitment

CAQA ClearFlow Water will supply drinking water that is safe to drink and meets the standards in the Safe Drinking Water Regulations and the health-based guideline values in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. The business will manage water quality from catchment to tap using a risk-based approach and will never knowingly supply water that presents a risk to public health.

2.Risk management plan

The business will maintain a drinking water risk management plan that identifies hazards and hazardous events across the catchment, treatment and distribution, assesses the risks, sets critical control points with critical limits, and defines the monitoring, corrective actions and verification for each. The plan will be audited by an approved auditor as required by the regulations and reviewed after every incident.

3.Critical control points

Coagulation, filtration and disinfection at the Kialla plant and disinfection at the bore field are critical control points. Each has a target, an alert level and a critical limit recorded in the Critical Control Points Register. Operators must respond to an alert level and must act on a critical limit breach immediately, including stopping supply from the affected process where the procedure requires it. A critical control point must never be bypassed without the approval of the Water Treatment Manager and the Control Centre and Water Quality Manager.

4.Monitoring and reporting

Online instruments will monitor turbidity, chlorine, pH and fluoride continuously with alarms to the control centre. The verification sampling program will collect samples for microbial, chemical and aesthetic parameters from the treatment plants, reservoirs and reticulation on the schedule approved by the health regulator. Results will be recorded in the Water Quality Sampling Register and reported to the regulator annually and, for any exceedance of a health-based standard, immediately.

5.Incident response

Any detection of E. coli, any exceedance of a health-based guideline value, any loss of disinfection and any event that reasonably indicates a risk to public health must be managed as a water quality incident under the Water Quality Incident Response Procedure. The health regulator will be notified as soon as practicable and no later than the time required by the regulations. Advice to customers, including boil water advice, will be issued when the regulator and the incident controller determine it is needed.

6.Responsibilities

The Managing Director is accountable for drinking water quality. The Control Centre and Water Quality Manager owns the risk management plan, the sampling program and regulator reporting. The Water Treatment Manager owns the treatment critical control points. The Networks Manager owns distribution system integrity, including disinfection of repaired mains. Every operator must record, report and act on the data they see.

7.Review

This policy will be reviewed annually by the drinking water quality committee and after any incident that required regulator notification.