Defence Minister Marise Payne today said she would be happy to drink Katherine's water based on expert advice that it was safe to do so.
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On a day when Chief Minister Michael Gunner was in Katherine and again said he would be happy to drink the water, so did Ms Payne.
Water officials have also found the town’s water restrictions are starting to bite and water use has fallen by 22 per cent against corresponding weeks over the past two years.
Ms Payne was in Darwin today to launch a new defence jobs program to make sure local businesses had opportunities to bid for lucrative defence work, like the $500 million upgrade under way at Tindal RAAF Base.
Ms Payne was questioned by reporters on the leaching of PFAS chemicals from the Tindal base into Katherine’s water supply.
“There is currently no clear advice in terms of health impacts,” she said, in reference to PFAS contamination.
PFAS is a family of chemicals which were used in firefighting foams at Tindal between 1988 and 2004.
Ms Payne said the expert medical advice was that Katherine’s water remained safe to drink.
She said defence supported the efforts of the NT Government to reduce the amount of water being used in Katherine.
Water restrictions began in Katherine last working on an odds and evens system for each household.
Power and Water today said those restrictions are already having a marked impact.
Katherine used 62 megalitres of treated water last week and almost 78 megalitres per week in each of the corresponding two years.
Water use has fallen by 22 per cent.
Ms Payne said a water treatment plant from the US would be “up and running” in Katherine by October.
That plant is expected to treat one megalitre of water per day when Katherine traditionally uses about 15 megalitres at its peak in October.
Ms Payne said the leaching of PFAS from military bases was a “serious legacy issue”.