The chairman of a remote Aboriginal community in the Kimberley says WA's state-owned water supplier failed to effectively notify the community after potentially deadly amoeba and bacteria were detected in their system.
Key points:
- The government-owned Water Corporation says fixes are underway
- It says the contamination was likely caused by a faulty water chlorinator
- An expert says the contaminants can cause a rare but nearly always fatal infection
On January 12, the Ngumpan community, about 100 kilometres south-east of Fitzroy Crossing, was issued an alert about unsafe water by Water Corporation.
The community was told to boil and cool water for drinking and playing due to the presence of thermophilic naegleria and E. coli in their water supply.
Ngumpan Aboriginal Corporation chairman Alastair Hobbs said he was never directly contacted.
He said as chairman he was disappointed he only found out through social media and had no opportunity to get extra information.
"We didn't know there's something in the water," Mr Hobbs said.
"Finally, we found out through Facebook.
"That's when the people[in Ngumpan] started being afraid, especially [when] they say it's dangerous for the kids."
Daily temperatures around Ngumpan at the time were in the mid-30 degree Celsius to low 40C range, which made it hard to follow the recommendations.
"It's pretty hard for us," Mr Hobbs said.
"There's a store just up there, 10km from here, so we have to go buy drinking water through the bottle."
All young children in Ngumpan, a community of about three dozen people, have since been temporarily sent to a nearby community to ensure they are not at risk from the contaminants.
It follows other remote Aboriginal communities in the region complaining about a lack of communication from the water supplier in the wake of the Kimberley floods.
Fixes underway
A Water Corporation spokesperson said an investigation was ongoing, but the contamination was likely due to a technical fault with the chlorinator on the community's supply.
The spokesperson said the Ngumpan community was notified "within the hour" on January 12 via email and phone of the water quality detections.
"In addition, the advisory was posted on Facebook by Nindilingarri Cultural Health Services that same evening, and our regional service provider also notified community members in person when they attended the following morning for repairs," the spokesperson said.
The warning was not posted on the Nindilingarri Cultural Health Services Facebook page, but instead the Fitzroy Crossing Noticeboard.
The spokesperson said the community would be advised as soon as possible when the water was safe to drink again.
Infection rare but fatal
Professor Stuart Khan, head of the School of Civil Engineering at University of Sydney, said the risk of infection from thermophilic naegleria was rare, but nearly always fatal.
Drinking contaminated water was OK, but infection occurred when water entered the nose by force — a possible scenario when kids were playing with hoses.
The water quality expert did not comment on the situation in Ngumpan specifically, but said contamination with the amoeba should always be communicated quickly.
"It's very important that the communities be notified … because they need to be able to take action to prevent themselves from infection," Professor Khan said.
Professor Khan said there had been a number of "very tragic" cases of infection in Australia over the last few decades.
"This is something we need to take very seriously," he said.
He said the two contaminants found in Ngumpan should not be present if the water was correctly treated with chlorine disinfection.
Communication criticised
Mr Hobbs said he regularly found communication with the state's water supplier to be inadequate.
After seeing the alert, he said there had been minimal contact and the community still had no information about the specific risks that were posed.
Mr Hobbs said he had not heard of anyone from Water Corporation attending in person, but hoped the response would be better next time.
"We have to cope with it, until everything is all good to drink," he said.