Some taps were shut off in July after elevated lead levels were detected. At that time 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 as it was not at significant levels.

Warrnambool City Council infrastructure director Scott Cavanagh said it was advisable with any type of tap to flush it before use.

Some water fountains have been wrapped in black plastic around the city, but they will soon be available for use.

“Wannon Water made an offer to us to test our taps which we did,” he said.

“Some were fine and some didn’t pass. There were a range of different measures related to metals and other things they didn’t meet the standards or had elevated levels. One of the interesting things was that there was no consistency around why that was.

“It wasn’t specifically related to one asset or one part. What we also found was that it also depended a lot on the amount of usage on a particular fountain at a point in time. We had a number of fountains in outlying areas that had extremely low use and they sat at the end of a long line, so they can be problematic. Looking at all the advice we expect to open most of the fountains fairly soon, but the advice remains that if people have concerns to contact the Department of Health and Human Services and they should flush the taps.” He said there was around 10 bubble taps that would be reopened soon and some of the taps in low usage areas would be considered for removal.