Douglas Shire Council advises that the Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system at the Port Douglas Wastewater Treatment Plant was irreparably damaged due to an electrical fire, which occurred between 20th and 21st April 2024.
While the overall treatment process provides 99 per cent removal of bacteria, the UV disinfection system is a key treatment step required to reduce bacteria levels by 99.99 per cent prior to discharge to Dickson Inlet.
The UV disinfection system is a key treatment step required to reduce bacteria levels prior to discharge to Dickson Inlet.
As a result, higher levels of bacteria will be discharged from the plant until such time as an alternative interim disinfection system is installed, while also awaiting installation of a new UV disinfection plant, which may take up to six months to procure.
Council advises that the public discontinue or limit activities and contact with water (including fishing, entering the water, bodily contact with the water) around, or downstream of the effluent discharge point (Packers Creek and Dickson Inlet, downstream of the effluent discharge point), until such time as the alternative interim disinfection system is installed, which is envisaged to take approximately one month.
Council also advises that the waters of Dickson Inlet, upstream and downstream of the effluent discharge point, will continue to be monitored for bacterial levels on a weekly basis, to ensure that levels are within the bacterial levels specified for secondary contact recreation in the Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality (ANZECC/ARMCANZ, 2000).
Rachel Brophy
Chief Executive Officer
Douglas Shire Council
