Community-led rainwater testing near Orange finds one in three tanks have unsafe lead levels

NSW Health is retesting water after residents raised concerns about elevated traces of heavy metals, which they worry is linked to Cadia gold mine

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More than a third of the water samples taken from rainwater tanks near Orange as part of a citizen survey and tested by an independent laboratory showed lead results above the safe levels in the Australian drinking water guidelines.

Those results are now being re-tested by New South Wales Health in an effort to determine if there is a broader public health risk. NSW Health has not provided any updates about those test results or said whether they confirm the results of the initial testing.

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