Testing has revealed two fountains have marginally elevated levels of lead in the water.

The 25 taps are located around Warrnambool, including along the beach promenade, Lake Pertobe, parks and Aquazone.

City infrastructure director Scott Cavanagh said the council had decided to test the water at the drinking fountains following the discovery in Geelong of fountains delivering water with lead levels above recommended limits.

The council is working with Wannon Water. 

“We initially tested five drinking fountains and found that one was at the lead limit of 0.01 parts per million and another just above at 0.03 parts per million,” he said.

“We’re now testing the remaining 25 drinking water fountains in the city. Drinking fountains that are waiting to be tested or which have elevated lead levels in the water will remain out of service until the issue is rectified.”

A council spokesman said it was anticipated the results would be known over the next week.

He said there was no lead piping in the drinking taps and water from Wannon Water was compliant. 

Mr Cavanagh said the early indications were that this was an issue with plumbing hardware.

“We know that Wannon Water regularly tests for lead in drinking waters throughout the region and results are well within the Australian Drinking Water Guideline limits,” he said.

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Professor Charles Guest advised that people did not need to be worried if they had consumed water from the affected drinking fountains.

“While the levels of lead detected are above the health guideline value in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, they are not of immediate concern, as drinking water fountains are not the main source of daily drinking water,” he said.

“The impacts of plumbing materials in contact with drinking water is an emerging issue worldwide. Experts and regulators across Australia are working together to better understand the issue, with the aim of minimising exposure to lead from drinking water.”