Caramut's water shortlisted among the best in Victora
10 September 2019
Drinking water supplied by Wannon Water to the tiny township of Caramut has been shortlisted as being one of the best tasting drops in Victoria.
An independent panel selected Caramut as a finalist for the state’s best tasting tap water competition during the annual Water Industry Operators Association conference in Bendigo last week.
It was judged as the best in blind taste testing at a local level before samples were taken to Bendigo. Wannon Water’s entry was shortlisted as one of the final three, along with samples from Barwon Water and Westernport Water.
The judges awarded the Victorian title to Barwon Water’s sample from the Geelong West Water Treatment Plant during the final round of sampling.
Caramut’s water is sourced from a shallow aquifer located to the east of town. It is the smallest drinking water supply town in Wannon Water’s 23,500-square-kilometre region, with only 56 residential customers and 12 non-residential customers.
Managing Director Andrew Jeffers said Wannon Water invested approximately $100,000 in 2018/2019 to ensure the water supplied to Caramut continued to be safe and of high quality.
“Work included the installation of a new bore and casing, revised operating processes and ultra-violet treatment as an additional disinfection barrier,” Mr Jeffers said.
Caramut’s shortlisting follows Wannon Water’s win in last year’s Victorian competition with samples from the Hamilton Water Treatment Plant. That water went on to win at national level and then place second in the international competition held in the United States earlier this year.
“Recognition with the quality of water at a number of our towns is such a huge honour for Wannon Water’s dedicated team of employees who take so much pride in their work,” Mr Jeffers said.
“We acknowledge, however, that we still have work to do to provide a similar level of satisfaction about the taste of water to customers in all our supply systems.
“For example, water in Portland, Port Fairy and Heywood is supplied from a deep aquifer and, although it is safe to drink, it naturally contains many natural minerals which can affect taste and smell.”
Mr Jeffers said Wannon Water is planning improvements to water treatment infrastructure across the region over the next three years. “We are also investigating options to improve water quality for customers in Portland, Port Fairy and Heywood.”
