Port Fairy beach water to be monitored in Wannon Water pilot program

It follows concerns earlier in the year about pathogens in the water at The Passage, a popular surfing spot, with two surfers becoming seriously ill after surfing at the location on Good Friday, April 2.

Wannon Water managing director Andrew Jeffers said the point of the trial was to restore public confidence in Port Fairy's beach water.

"At the time, the Port Fairy Sewage Treatment Plant was operating normally and had no adverse issues and that remains the case today," he said.

The program, beginning later this month, will involve taking water samples twice a month during the peak period to March 2022, and once a month from April to October.

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Samples will be taken at East Beach, Golfies, Pea Soup, The Passage, and South Beach, as well as a storm water outlet at the south-west end of Ocean Drive and the Moyne rivermouth.

Wannon Water said it also took monthly water samples at the outflow zone for the Port Fairy sewage treatment plant, but it would be collecting more under the program.

The samples will be tested to see whether they have unsafe levels of bacteria, a particular concern because the two surfers suffered severe bacterial infections.

Water quality will be graded "very good", "good", "fair", or "poor", using a colour-coded system and the results will be publicly available on the Moyne Shire website.

A spokesperson for Wannon Water also said the beach water would be sampled "following significant weather such as heavy rainfall or very high tides, and if plumes of algal blooms are observed or reported by the public".

Moyne Shire Council director of infrastructure and environment Edith Farrell urged people to keep an eye out for updated water quality results.

She said the program would "help beach users make an informed decision on the risk of entering the water".

Sampling results from the current monitoring undertaken by Wannon Water show significant variation in bacteria levels from month to month, suggesting the results of a sample on a particular week may not be indicative of water quality the following week or fortnight.

Moyne councillor and passionate surfer Jordan Lockett said the trial was "a fantastic program".

He said if there were any concerning samples discovered, "council would be disseminating that information far and wide".

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