Fluoride commissioning rescheduled

Southern Downs Regional Council has rescheduled commissioning of fluoride for the Warwick and Stanthorpe water supplies to early May to allow for further fine-tuning of the new system.
The decision was made after testing last week found the new fluoride analysers were taking in air as well as water and, as a precaution, any fluoride dosing was immediately suspended.
“The analysers are a safety barrier designed to shut down the dosing should a high level of fluoride enter the system,” Mayor Ron Bellingham said. “It is essential that these are working perfectly and this council will not add any more fluoride to the water until they are.
“Only minute amounts of fluoride were added during the initial testing, well below the maximum for safe drinking water guidelines, so there is no question of the water supply being safe in the meantime.”
The council engineers and contractors will work on the issue, with re-commissioning of fluoride into the water likely for the first week of May.