Ovens River water unusable after pollution from fires

Dirty water caused by the north-east Victorian fires has made the main water supply for Bright and Wandiligong residents unusable. North East Water's Terry Weisener says large amounts of ash and sediment has entered the Ovens River. He says water will be temporarily supplied by a limited reserve system, which is why stage four restrictions have been introduced. He says residents are urged to cut back their water use until they are returned to the main supply, hopefully by early next week. "The rain earlier in the week has caused some dirty water to be heading down the Ovens towards Bright," he said. "So we need to shut down the current off-take and run on the reserves until the dirty water passes." Meanwhile notices to boil water before use put in place before Christmas have been lifted for Mount Beauty, Harrietville, Tawonga and Whitfield residents.

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