Rubber dams deflated after drowning
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The State Government authority in charge of Queensland's dams says it is deflating rubber dams near Mackay and Gayndah, in the state's north, to do an internal safety inspection on them.
SunWater yesterday began deflating 'fabridams' at the Dumbleton and Mirani Weirs near Mackay and the Claude Wharton Weir near Gayndah.
A four-year-old girl drowned when a similar type of dam burst at Blackwater's Bedford Weir.
SunWater's Peter Boettcher says the company is taking no chances.
"What we do want to do is do an inspection internally in the bag. The previous inspections that we had undertaken were external visual inspections," he said.
"To be absolutely thorough and absolutely sure and in the interests of public safety we really feel that we need to go that extra step."
Meanwhile, Queensland Health says it is unlikely that Sunday's fatal dam collapse near Blackwater in central Queensland will have any effect on sodium levels in Rockhampton's water supply.
The state health authority has been monitoring sodium levels in the Fitzroy River system.
Dr Margaret Young says sodium levels in Rockhampton water are likely to stay around 120 milligrams per litre - even after the Bedford Weir collapse.
"I would imagine that this event from the weekend will not affect Rockhampton because that water has a series of weirs to go through before it reaches that far down and certainly one of the objectives of all of the agencies working together is to minimise the risk of further impacts on the water supply for Rockhampton," she said.
"What is being discussed among the relevant agencies is the continued monitoring.
"I would imagine that the release will affect the next weir, but it's still a long way off affecting the weir at Rockhampton which is another four weirs downstream."
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