Ongoing bushfires have incinerated most of the forests in Sydney's main catchment, leaving water reserves exposed to significant contamination in the event of a major downpour
While the ash acts like a sponge, if sufficient rain falls in a short time that material could be pushed into the dam, triggering a range of water treatment challenges.
Contamination risks range from mild discolouration and turbidity if organic material gets washed in, to the sudden growth of algae and cyanobacteria - or blue-green algae - triggered by phosphorus or other nutrients. Of greater worry would be if the species of any algal outbreak turned out to contain toxins. The 2007 bloom was non-toxic but others may not be so benign, Brett Neilan, a molecular biologist at Newcastle University said.
"Highly experienced water quality scientists are using sophisticated monitoring technology and models to anticipate if and where in the storage water quality may be affected [from ash inflows]," she said.
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