Water guideline value tables

Water sampling – Turon River near Lithgow

Table 1: Recreational Water Guideline values (NHMRC 2008)

Lower Daylight Ck (Point 2)

		Upper Daylight Ck (Point 1)		Lower Daylight Ck (Point 2)		Williwa Creek (Point 3)		Jews Creek (Point 4)
Sample date		Spring 23	Autumn 24	Spring 23	Autumn 24	Spring 23	Autumn 24	Spring 23	Autumn 24
Analytes	Recreational Water Guideline values (NHMRC 2008)2	mg/L		mg/L		mg/L		mg/L
Aluminium	2^	-	3.7	0.04	<0.04	<0.04	0.05	<0.04	<0.04
Arsenic	0.1	-	0.003	<0.001	0.001	<0.001	0.002	<0.001	0.001
Chromium	0.5 (CrVI)	-	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Cobalt	No value	-	0.022	0.0023	0.006	<0.0001	0.0003	0.0002	0.0001
Copper	20	-	0.8	0.055	0.045	0.0027	0.0028	0.0009	<0.0005
Lead	0.1	-	0.83	0.011	0.008	0.0002	0.0008	<0.0001	<0.0001
Nickel	0.2	-	0.035	0.011	0.01	0.0012	0.0011	0.004	0.0035
Zinc	30^	-	26	6.6	8	0.2	0.09	0.003	0.002

		Woolshed Flat Campground (Point 5)		The Diggings Campground (Point 6)		Turon River Campground (Point 7)
Sample date		Spring 23	Autumn 24	Spring 23	Autumn 24	Spring 23	Autumn 24
Analytes	Recreational Water Guideline values (NHMRC 2008)2	mg/L		mg/L		mg/L
Aluminium	2^	<0.04	<0.04	<0.04	<0.04	<0.04	<0.04
Arsenic	0.1	<0.001	0.002	<0.001	0.002	<0.001	0.002
Chromium	0.5 (CrVI)	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Cobalt	No value	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001
Copper	20	0.0016	0.0015	0.0014	0.0012	0.0014	0.0014
Lead	0.1	0.0001	0.0002	0.0001	0.0003	0.0001	0.0003
Nickel	0.2	0.0012	0.0018	0.0011	0.0017	0.0011	0.0015
Zinc	30^	0.027	0.022	0.021	0.021	0.021	0.019

^No health-based guideline value for drinking water. Based on guideline value for aesthetic (visual/taste) risks for drinking water.

2 NHMRC (2008) Guideline for managing risks in recreational water (suggests 10 x drinking water guideline value can be used to screen recreational water quality)

Water sampling – Turon River near Lithgow

Table 2: Water Quality Guideline Values for upland river aquatic ecosystems (95% species protection unless indicated)

		Upper Daylight Ck (Point 1)		Lower Daylight Ck (Point 2)		Williwa Creek (Point 3)		Jews Creek (Point 4)
Sample date		Spring 23	Autumn 24	Spring Autumn 23 24		Spring 23	Autumn 24	Spring 23	Autumn 24
Analytes	WQGs upland river (95% protection)#	mg/L		mg/L		mg/L		mg/L
Dissolved oxygen (% saturation)‡	90-100	97.8	92.2	115.1	71.8	119.7	64.9	102	90.2
Electrical conductivity (µS/cm)‡	30-350	381	417	191	207	462	419	1370	1530
pH‡	6.5-8	6.0	3.9	6.0	5.9	6.0	8.2	8.4	8.4
Turbidity (NTU)‡	2-25	4.3	0.0	3.3	0.0	2.3	16.0	2.8	2.3
Aluminium	pH <6.5 (0.0008)+	-	3.6	<0.04	<0.04	<0.04	<0.04
Aluminium	pH >6.5 (0.055)							<0.04	<0.04
Arsenic	0.013 (AsV)	-	0.003	<0.001	0.001	<0.001	0.001	<0.001	0.001
Cadmium	0.0002	-	0.091	0.024	0.027	0.0008	0.0002	<0.0001	<0.0001
Chromium	0.001 (CrVI)	-	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Cobolt	0.0014+	-	0.021	0.002	0.0005	<0.0001	0.0002	0.0001	0.0001
Copper	0.0014	-	0.79	0.041	0.029	0.002	0.0013	<0.0005	<0.0005
Cyanide	0.007	-	<0.004	<0.004	<0.004	<0.004	<0.004	<0.004	<0.004
Lead	0.0034	-	0.8	0.005	0.005	<0.0001	0.0002	<0.0001	<0.0001
Manganese	1.9	-	1.6	0.17	0.07	0.011	0.11	0.03	0.03
Mercury	0.00006*	-	<0.00005	<0.00005	<0.00005	<0.00005	<0.00005	<0.00005	<0.00005
Nickel	0.011	-	0.035	0.0095	0.0098	0.001	0.001	0.0034	0.0034
Selenium	0.005*	-	<0.005	<0.005	<0.005	<0.005	<0.005	<0.005	<0.005
Silver	0.00005	-	0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001
Zinc	0.008	-	26	6.7	7.8	0.19	0.068	<0.001	<0.001

		Woolshed Flat Campground (Point 5)		The Diggings Campground (Point 6)		Turon River Campground (Point 7)
Sample date		Spring 23	Autumn 24	Spring 23	Autumn 24	Spring 23	Autumn 24
Analytes	WQGs upland river (95% protection)#	mg/L		mg/L		mg/L
Dissolved oxygen (% saturation)‡	90-100	87.9	101.2	97.6	52.0	85.3	63.4
Electrical conductivity (µS/cm)‡	30-350	703	949	710	882	689	842
pH‡	6.5-8	8.2	7.9	8.1	7.3	8.1	7.9
Turbidity (NTU)‡	2-25	1.3	3.0	6.4	7.7	2.0	7.5
Aluminium	pH <6.5 (0.0008)+
Aluminium	pH >6.5 (0.055)	<0.04	<0.04	<0.04	<0.04	<0.04	<0.04
Arsenic	0.013 (AsV)	<0.001	0.002	<0.001	0.002	<0.001	0.002
Cadmium	0.0002	0.0001	<0.0001	0.0001	<0.0001	0.0001	<0.0001
Chromium	0.001 (CrVI)	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Cobolt	0.0014+	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001
Copper	0.0014	0.0009	0.0009	0.0009	0.0015	0.0009	0.0013
Cyanide	0.007	<0.004	<0.004	<0.004	<0.004	<0.004	<0.004
Lead	0.0034	<0.0001	0.0032	<0.0001	0.0001	<0.0001	0.0001
Manganese	1.9	0.012	0.05	0.007	0.05	0.007	0.03
Mercury	0.00006*	<0.00005	<0.00005	<0.00005	<0.00005	<0.00005	<0.00005
Nickel	0.011	0.0011	0.0018	0.001	0.002	0.001	0.0017
Selenium	0.005*	<0.005	<0.005	<0.005	<0.005	<0.005	<0.005
Silver	0.00005	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001	<0.0001
Zinc	0.008	0.019	0.018	0.017	0.018	0.017	0.018

# ANZG (2018). Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality: Default Guideline Values,

+ Low reliability guideline value.

* 99% species protection used to account for the bioaccumulating nature of the toxicant.

‡ Field measurement (using Horiba U52 Water Quality Monitor)

References

ANZG (2018). Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality: Default Guideline Values, http://www.waterquality.gov.au/guidelines/anz-fresh-marine.

Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (2011), https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/australian-drinking-water-guidelines#block-views-block-file-attachments-content-block-1.

Hayes, W. J., Chaudry T. M., Buckney, R.T., and Khan, A.G. (2003). Phytoaccumulation of Trace Metals at the Sunny Corner Mine, New South Wales, with Suggestions for a Possible Remediation Strategy. Australasian Journal of Ecotoxicology Vol. 9. PP. 69-82.

National Health and Medical Research Council (2008). Guidelines for Managing Risks in Recreational Water. https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/guidelines-managing-risks-recreational-water#block-views-block-file-attachments-content-block-1