Leader of The Nationals WA and Member for Mid-West Shane Love MLA has called on the State Government to urgently address ongoing water quality issues affecting residents across the Murchison region.
Speaking in Parliament, Mr Love said the area remains “dreadfully neglected” despite its significant contribution to the State’s mineral wealth.
Mr Love said three years ago Labor was boasting of completing a $25.7 million program to improve Murchison water quality, yet residents in Sandstone, Mt Magnet, Cue and Yalgoo continue to face unsafe and unreliable drinking water.
“Given what the Murchison contributes to our State’s economy, the neglect is staggering,” Mr Love said.
“The Murchison ranks among the top-performing regions for mineral value by local government area, yet its communities are still struggling for something as basic as safe drinking water.”
Mr Love said independent lab testing from Sandstone, provided to him in August, showed levels of total dissolved solids, hardness, sodium, chloride, nitrate, and silica all exceeding the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
“Residents have told me testing often occurs only after the system has been flushed, producing misleading results,” he said.
“Locals even describe the water as making them thirstier after drinking it, which is alarming in a place where summer temperatures regularly reach 38 to 48 degrees.”
In Yalgoo, residents are enduring repeated disruptions due to maintenance shutdowns, plant failures, and burst pipes, forcing most the town’s water supply to be trucked in from Geraldton.
“People are questioning whether that carted water is even potable after sitting for hours in hot poly tanks,” Mr Love said.
“The Water Corporation is subcontracting cartage, and locals say there’s no testing or verification of water quality when it’s unloaded into town tanks.”
While the new electrodialysis plant is performing better than the former reverse osmosis system, Mr Love said legacy contamination from old pipes, heavy metals, and scaling remains an issue.
Residents have also raised safety concerns about extreme water temperatures, with Yalgoo’s non-reflective concrete water tank exposed to full sun throughout the day.
“Water from the ‘cold’ tap can reach over 40 to 50 degrees in summer, hot enough to cause burns,” Mr Love said.
“For a quarter of the year, residents can’t even cool water from their taps or showers. It’s a basic health and safety issue that would never be tolerated in Perth.”
Mr Love said the Government must prioritise investment in water infrastructure, testing accuracy, and community safety across the Murchison.
“These towns are surrounded by mining activity, Yalgoo alone sees quad road trains carrying iron ore pass through every six minutes. The people who live and work here deserve better,” he said.
“These communities might be out of sight, but they should not be out of mind.”