Patrolling the Beach

I love this 'blogging' business.  It's so easy and instant.  I type my little stories and as soon as I publish them they are instantly available for you to read.  Thanks for the positive feedback too, it's very encouraging.

Noel emailed me with some great pictures taken at the beach in the last week.  He has also given me a report on the Preston Beach Beach Volunteer Rangers, so seeing that he has done all the hard work, I will just copy and paste his report and upload the pictures for you to enjoy.

Washed ashore

PRESTON BEACH VOLUNTEER RANGERS REPORT

There was a time when winter ensured our beach had a bit of a rest, an occasional vehicle and sometimes maybe just the odd hardy soul braving the elements. Sadly those days seem to be but a distant memory. The new highway combined with a change in our weather pattern has resulted in the beach still being busy on many weekends and for the Volunteer Beach Rangers this has meant we have also had to change the way we operate. Putting the vehicle away in a shed for winter is hardly an option these days. The sand is soft, many drivers are not experienced and as a result we are getting more needing assistance. Whilst it is not the role of the Volunteers to act as tow truck operators the fact is that on many occasions we are the only option to get people out of bother.

In addition, we are getting an increasing number of calls to check on injured roos and to pick up dead ones and dispose of them. Again this is not one of our designated duties however we will assist whenever we are able.
Picking up litter off the beach is ongoing and whilst this summer we noticed a marked improvement with less litter this year compared to other years it is interesting to see what the ocean is throwing back at us following some of our winter storms. In the back of the Ranger vehicle we have 2 crowd control barriers, a tyre, various floats, an assortment of rope, timber, stubbies, cans and bits of plastic etc.

However the prize for the most unusual find so far this year goes to Volunteer Ranger Barry Pittman who came across a barnacle encrusted aluminium dinghy that had obviously been on the bottom of the ocean for a long time
.

Live Barnacles attached to the dinghy

Anyone who has been to the beach this week will have noticed the new signs at the beach access tracks. No excuses for not knowing the rules pertaining to the beach from now on.

Regards, Noel.

I love the pic of the boat and barnacles, and for those who haven't been down the beach for a while, here are preview pics of the new signs.

If you want a close up view of any photo's just click them and they will load as enlargements.

Water Quality

Last week I had a phone call from Don Randall's office to tell me Don had finally secured an acknowledgement from the Minister for Water, Hon. Bill Marion MLA, that there are major issues surrounding the quality of water in the Preston Beach area.

This was exciting news as in the past all our efforts to bring the Water Corporation to task over water quality have ended in nothing more than letters of dismissal or at best various versions of 'the run around' with well recognised 'spin' being cited to appease the masses.

So, Don's advice that the Minister had phoned him in Canberra and confirmed that their investigations had found that the water quality is of very poor standard and in some cases does not meet health requirements was very well received.  At last, I thought we have progress.

He went on to say the Minister had ordered the Department to undertake more detailed reports and to determine a plan of action to address the situation!

It's probably important at this point to say that the Preston Beach Progress Association and many private individuals have been lobbying for better water for over 10 years.  In all this time whilst official testing has shown that salt content is at times way above the World Health Standard of >500mg/L, private testing has recorded salts as high as <900 mg/L.  The 'spin' from the Department has always maintained that whilst this is aesthetically poor and doesn't taste the best, they continued to maintain it would not harm our health.

Why am I so disappointed then when I read the Ministers letter to Don? 

Click on image to enlarge

We should admire Don's tenacity on this issue, however, reading the official response, I feel we have

made no further progress. As soon as the Water Corporation are challenged on this matter, they revert to the old 'spin' and we get the exact same response as usual; "I acknowledge that the water quality is at the limit of Australian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines (ADWG) in terms of taste and hardness. While this is not ideal, please be assured that the water meets all health parameters and does not pose a health risk."

The ADWG used in this instance are the guidelines set down in 1996 because the Water Corporation are licenced to use these guidelines, even though they are well outdated.

I located the Preston Beach Drinking Water Protection Plan (PBWPP) - Report No. 57 April 2006 online. Some of the facts discovered in this report confirm the that the water hardness levels at Preston Beach are well and truly off the scale.  Not simply "at the limit" of acceptable standards.

Here are some of the facts;

• Water is extracted from three bores, 1/85 and 2/85 commissioned in 1985 and located within the town, and 1/98 located on Johnson Road
• Bore 1/98 provides the majority of drinking water to the townsite, whilst 1/85 and 2/85 are used as backup or standby. 
• Salinity at 1/98 averages 550mg/L total dissolved salts (hardness)
• 1/85 and 2/85 average 1000-1079 mg/L and 838-972 mg/L respectively since monitoring began in 1985. The National Health & Medical Research Council states water hardness above 500 mg/L will result in severe scaling
• Generally health related chemicals are below the ADWG except for Boron which averaged .41 mg/L (ADWG 0.3 mg/L)
• Boron toxicity has resulted in testicular atrophy in tests using mice and rat
• A range of non-health related chemicals exceeded ADWG
• Iron is present in high levels and this affects taste.  This is countered by the addition of Calgon and filtering.
• Water hardness exceeded guidelines across the board
• Turbidity also exceeded guidelines
• Aluminium exceeded guidelines at bore 1/98 where concentrations reached 0.39 mg/L (ADWG .2 mg/L)

I was also concerned to read in the PBWPP that the chemical herbicide Atrazine is used in the management of the pine plantation in the area around bore 1/98.  The water table sits at 16 metres and there is concern about the possible leaching of chemicals into the water table.  Protection Strategies have been put in place following the report and protection zones established but it still gives rise for concern when our water is extracted from an uncontained aquifer.

Getting back to the Ministers letter, I cite the above as good reason to be offended by the assumption that all we are concerned about is the 'aesthetic quality' of Preston Beach water. On a positive note it is good that he recognises that the 2020 timeline for connection to the Stirling Trunk Main is not satisfactory but I see nothing in this correspondence to indicate a positive early outcome.