By Brooke Jacobson

The lack of fluoride in Dubbo’s water supply, which was revealed last week, is the “largest breach of trust” the mayor has ever seen in local government.

Dubbo Regional Council mayor, Mathew Dickerson, said he was shocked to discover there had been no fluoride in the water since 2019.

“It’s a severe breach of trust and for me, that’s the most disappointing aspect of it all,” he said.

“The staff at the time found the fluoride container had a leak and they reported it to senior staff.

“NSW Health were informed and then, the senior levels of management at council at the time did nothing – and worse, didn’t tell the community.”

A statement issued by the current council this week said: “In January 2019 Council staff formally advised the Water unit of Health NSW that Council was not able to fluoridate the water supply due to a leaking storage tank. This was proposed to be a temporary halt to fluoridation, and repair works would be required to the storage facilities.

“Hunter H2O was engaged by Council in March 2019 to undertake an audit of Council’s facilities that operate Ferric Chloride and Hydrofluorosilicic Acid dosing at the John Gilbert Water Treatment Plant.

“Hydrofluorosilicic Acid (HSFA) dosing is the chemical treatment to input fluoride into the water supply to meet its obligations under the Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies Act 1957.

“The audit showed that Council was non-compliant with the Australian Standard for the storage and handling of corrosive substances (AS3780) and the NSW Code of Practice for Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies.”

Cr Dickerson said when it was first raised with him, it seemed “unbelievable”.

“This is an offence against the Act,” he said.

“We know mistakes get made from time to time, but this... everyone assumed everything was being done correctly.

“I don’t like running to the community with bad news, but the community had a right to know.”

It’s an issue that has prompted a great deal of speculation and comment on social media, with residents’ keen to know how this happened in the first place.

“It seems that the CEO (had) an inadequate monthly reporting regime,” one resident wrote on Facebook.

“The ratepayers expect the CEO to follow best practice governance criteria. How can ratepayers have confidence there are not other performance shortfalls remaining for the CEO to yet be advised about.”

According to council, the current CEO Murray Wood was made aware of the issue in April this year and has since had meetings with “the relevant regulatory bodies to investigate”.

Public Works have been engaged to “assess the situation and to develop a clear scope of work to replace fluoride storage and dosing infrastructure at the water treatment plant so Council can meet its obligations under the Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies Act 1957.

“The report recommends that the works be undertaken in the 2022/23 financial year.”

Council’s statement added Dubbo Regional Council took “full responsibility for this failure in service delivery” and repair works at the water treatment plant were now a priority.