South Australia to run out of drinking water in a year: Politician

Adelaide, Sep 28(ANI): Australian Democrat David Winderlich has warned that the River Murray, which is a major source of drinking water for South Australians, will become too saline to drink in a year and as a result millions of residents would have to drink bottled water.

Winderlich urged the Kevin Rudd Government to look for immediate plans to provide bottled water to South Australian towns.

"Another dry year will deplete our reservoirs and the water in the Murray will become too saline to drink. We are talking about thousands of people, 1.3 million, who are not far off becoming reliant on bottled water," News.com.au quoted Winderlich, as saying.

"We are talking of a national emergency, but they're moving at a snail's pace," he added.

According to reports, it was also revealed that the salinity levels at pumping station that provides water supply to Adelaide was not far from reaching dangerous proportions.

Water sourced from the River Murray at Tailem Bend already exceeds the World Health Organisation's acceptable level of salinity for safe drinking water of 800EC (electrical conductivity).

Keith Walker, a river and flood plain ecologist, has informed that water at the Tailem Bend has already reached 1200EC and will require action if it reaches 1400EC.

"Most people can tolerate this level of salinity, but people with underlying health problems could be susceptible to salinity levels above 1400EC. The future of Murray as a town water supply is not at all secure," Walker said. (ANI)