It's been a long 99 days for residents, but progress is being made at the Uralla Water Treatment Plant to address the elevated arsenic levels in the town water supply.
Acting general manager Scott Phillips said with the delivery of the granular activated carbon filter, Council is hopeful that, pending approval by NSW Health, the 'Do Not Drink' alert will be lifted in April.
"We would like to apologise to our community that it has taken longer than expected to resolve the elevated arsenic levels," he said.
"We are doing the best we can during these challenging circumstances to ensure we can supply safe drinking water to our residents as soon as possible."
Council is currently following advice from both State and Federal Governments concerning the evolving COVID-19 situation.
"The community can be assured that bottled water distribution will continue as normal until the "Do Not Drink Alert" is lifted," Mr Phillips said.
"We do ask however that residents follow all Council staff directions, open their car door or boot for staff to load water into and practice social distancing practices including maintaining 1.5m distance from other customers and staff."
Water restrictions will remain at Level 5 while the upgrade works are in progress. Residents are still able to water their gardens and wash their cars between the hours of 6pm and 7pm daily to assist in flushing the system.
Mayor Michael Pearce said he was proud the community showed a great deal of resilience and was grateful for their patience since December and during these uncertain times.
"The health and wellbeing of our community is our top priority, and I am hoping that the anticipated lifting of the "Do Not Drink Alert" will provide some relief to residents as we deal with growing changes to our daily routines," he said.
For further information on what Council is doing to treat the elevated arsenic levels at the Uralla Water Treatment Plant and to view the latest arsenic test data, please visit our website here.