Fluoride to be added to South Coast towns' water supply

Fluoride will be added to the Brogo-Bermagui water supply on the NSW Far South Coast from March. Photo: sonsam.

More NSW South Coast residents are set to benefit from fluoridated water, decades after it first arrived in the area.

Bega Valley Shire Council’s director of assets and operations, Ian Macfarlane, said fluoridated water would be added to the Brogo-Bermagui water supply network.

“Fluoridation has been used on the Bega/Kalaru/Tathra water supply since the early 60s and has been used in other parts of NSW since 1956,” he said.

From 3 March, fluoridation will be introduced alongside the existing filtration, flocculation and chlorination processes at the Brogo Water Treatment Plant (the Brogo WTP).

Following commissioning and trials on the Brogo WTP, NSW Health approved the addition of sodium fluoride to the Brogo-Bermagui drinking water supply in late January.

This extension of the program means fluoridated water will be supplied to customers in Bermagui, Quaama, Cobargo, Beauty Point, Fairhaven, Wallaga Lake, Wallaga Lake Heights, Wallaga Lake Koori Village and Akolele.

The fluoride will be dosed at a target concentration of 1 mg/L, with strict limits ensuring levels remain between 0.9 and 1.5 mg/L.

“Extensive community engagement was undertaken in 2017, leading to a council decision to expand the use of fluoridation in the shire’s water supply,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“On 21 February 2018, council resolved to extend fluoride to most of the shire’s remaining water supplies. This decision has been crucial in securing state grants for the construction of new water treatment plants, with $15 million allocated for development in Bega and $10 million for Brogo.”

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has inspected and endorsed the fluoridation plant, ensuring it meets the NSW code of practice for the fluoridation of public water supplies.

To assist with the capital costs related to fluoridation, NSW Health has approved an additional grant of $176,000 for the Brogo WTP.

Council operators responsible for fluoride dosing have completed an advanced TAFE NSW certification in monitoring and operating fluoride addition processes.

NSW Health has commended Bega Valley Shire Council for implementing fluoridation, which has been widely available to most NSW residents for decades.

The announcement follows the NSW and Federal governments commitment to spending $3 million on a preliminary business case examining the best infrastructure and non-infrastructure solutions to address Bermagui’s water reliability issues.