If you live in Narrabri, the town supply tests inside the national guidelines, and the council says so after every round: its 29 September update says the town supply continues to be safe for consumption. The problem is quantity. PFAS has taken bores out of use, the town has been on Level 3 restrictions since 7pm on Friday 6 March 2026, and the council's restrictions page says it is reliant on primarily Elizabeth Street bore, with some minimal use of Tibbereena Street bore.

The fix the council has pinned its hopes on is a temporary plant to strip PFAS from the Killarney Street bore, so it can be switched back on. On 16 September councillors voted 9-0, in minute 228/2026, to approve procuring a temporary Water Treatment Plant to remove PFAS from the Killarney Street Bore water utilising the PFAS Emergency Funding provided by the NSW Government subject to a Section 60 endorsement being provided by the Department of Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Water. The report in front of them says an estimate for treating that bore alone is above the money.

What is in the water

The council publishes a laboratory certificate for each sampling point every round. The latest on its PFAS page are from samples taken on 8 September 2026, which the council's pages label 17 September, the date the certificates were issued. What reaches homes is the Namoi Street reservoir: the council's PFAS page says water from the Tibbereena and Elizabeth bores is pumped there, and it supplies the Narrabri township with drinking water.

PFOS and PFHxS at each sampling point, samples taken 8 September 2026

Guideline values are 8 ng/L for PFOS and 30 ng/L for PFHxS. The marked row is the bore the plant is meant to treat.

  • Namoi Street reservoirWhat reaches taps. PFHxS 1 ng/L. Highest of three samples shownPFOS 2Within guideline
  • Elizabeth Street boreThe main supply. PFHxS not detectedPFOS 2Within guideline
  • Tibbereena Street boreSupplements Elizabeth Street. PFHxS 5 ng/LPFOS 7Within guideline
  • Killarney Street boreSwitched off. PFHxS 29 ng/L, just under its 30PFOS 243 times the guideline
Results in ng/L from the Envirolab certificates of analysis issued to NSW Health on 17 and 18 September 2026 and published on the council's PFAS page (sources 7 to 10); the certificates report them in µg/L. Guideline values from the NHMRC (source 11). “3 times” is our arithmetic: 24 divided by 8.

The council's page says the Killarney bores remain switched off after testing in early July 2025 showed Namoi Reservoir levels slightly above current guidelines. Those guidelines are the ones the National Health and Medical Research Council published on 25 June 2025, which set PFOS at 8 ng/L, PFHxS at 30 ng/L, PFOA at 200 ng/L and PFBS at 1000 ng/L. The council's reports to councillors put the start earlier: PFAS contamination identified in 2024 resulted in the isolation of two of Narrabri’s three production bores. Tibbereena is now in partial use. For its 21 July round the council's PFAS page lists Tibbereena's PFOS at 11 ng/L, above the guideline on its own; in September it read 7.

The plant, and the money

The council received the $4 million in 2025, its restrictions page says, and its reports say it came from the NSW Government. The August and September reports set out two estimates by Public Works Advisory, which the council's update calls NSW Public Works Advisory. A plant beside the Namoi reservoirs treating 120 litres a second came in significantly more than the $4m provided by the NSW Government. A smaller scope, for the Killarney Street bore only at 75 litres a second, was the second.

The treatment rate was for 75L/s and still exceeds the $4m provided by the NSW Government as part of its PFAS Emergency Funding.

Narrabri Shire Council, Water PFAS Update, September 2026, item 19.1 of the 16 September 2026 business paper (source 1). The August report carries the same sentence (source 3).

In August the plan was to ask the state for more. That report said A revised medium-term approach is being developed that will likely involve us approaching the NSW Water Minister with a new medium term strategy and seeking additional capital funds to support its implementation. By September the recommendation had changed: given the time of the year and a desire to provide certainty around a way forward, the report asked councillors to approve procuring the Killarney plant by way of a selective tender process using the $4 million, and they voted for its recommendation. Neither report gives a dollar figure for either estimate, and the September report does not say what happens if tenders also come in above $4 million.

The approval is conditional. The council's 29 September update says Procurement and installation of the temporary water treatment plant is subject to endorsement from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). The reports also flag a cost that comes after the build: Operational costs associated with PFAS treatment, such as filter replacement and PFAS waste disposal will need to be incorporated into future budgets once treatment plant commissioning approaches.

How the plant's timetable has moved

Dates as the council's pages and papers give them. The hollow point is still to come, and has no date.

  • 25 June 2025The NHMRC publishes lower PFAS guideline values for drinking water.
  • Early July 2025Testing shows the Namoi reservoir slightly above the new guidelines; the Killarney bores are switched off.
  • 2025The council receives $4 million for a temporary treatment plant.
  • January 2026An expression of interest for designing and building the plant.
  • Friday 6 March 2026Level 3 restrictions start in Narrabri township.
  • The restrictions page's planTender in March, contractor on site by June, six months to build, likely to be online in early 2027.
  • Friday 1 May 2026An exemption changes the hours for outside watering under Level 3.
  • 19 August 2026Report: both estimates exceed $4 million; a new approach to the Water Minister for more capital is likely.
  • 16 September 2026Councillors vote 9-0 to procure the Killarney plant using the $4 million, subject to the department's endorsement. The report proposes a selective tender.
  • NextThe department's Section 60 endorsement, then the selective tender. The September papers give no date for either, or for the plant.
From the council's PFAS page (source 5), its water restrictions page (source 6), the 19 August and 16 September reports (sources 3 and 1), the 16 September minutes (source 2) and the NHMRC (source 11). The restrictions page still carried its March-to-June plan when we read it on 9 October 2026.

The other bores

Alongside the plant the council is trying to add bores free of PFAS, which its reports file under the same medium-term stage. On the September report, neither is supplying the town yet.

Where the two candidate bores stand, September 2026

As the 16 September report describes them.

  • Saleyards Lane boreAdded to the town's water access licence by the department, which says that is not an approval of water quality. The council is working with NSW Health on how much treatment it needsLicensedTreatment unknown
  • Logans Lane boreA registered surveyor confirmed it is in the road reserve. GHD engaged for a 72-hour pumping testTestingPumping test
From the Water PFAS Update, September 2026 (source 1) and the council's 29 September update (source 4). The labels on the right are our summary of each description.

For the long term, the council has engaged Public Works Advisory on an options study for reducing PFAS in the Narrabri supply, and the September report said We are expecting to receive a draft report for review by the end of September 2026. The council's 29 September update did not say whether it had arrived.

Our view

Going to market is a defensible call. Two estimates said $4 million would not cover the job, and the August alternative meant waiting on a minister for more money while the town stays on restrictions. A selective tender at least produces real prices. But the approval leaves the obvious question open in the council's own papers: if the tenders also come in above $4 million, what then? Neither report puts a figure on the estimates or says where any gap would come from, and the running costs of filters and PFAS waste will land on future budgets. On the council's own explanation the restrictions are about too few working bores, so getting Killarney back is the step most likely to ease them; that is our reading, and the council has not tied the plant to lifting restrictions or given it a date. Ratepayers would be better served by the estimate figures and a current timetable. The restrictions page still promises a plant on a schedule (a March tender, a contractor on site by June) that, on the September papers, had reached only the approval to procure.

What to watch

The department's Section 60 endorsement; whether the selective tender comes in within the $4 million; the draft options study; the Logans Lane pumping test and NSW Health's view on the Saleyards Lane water. The council has put a PFAS update to each of its August and September meetings. The restrictions page also gives the Level 3 exemption window as 4pm to 9pm in one sentence and 4pm to 9am in the next; check with the council before relying on either.

Sources

  1. Narrabri Shire Council, Water PFAS Update, September 2026, item 19.1 of the Ordinary Council Meeting business paper, 16 September 2026 (meeting portal PDF, read 9 October 2026): the recommendation, the two Public Works Advisory estimates, the selective tender, the other bores, the options study and the financial implications.
  2. Narrabri Shire Council, Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting, 16 September 2026 (meeting portal, Files tab, Minutes; read 9 October 2026): minute 228/2026, carried 9/0.
  3. Narrabri Shire Council, Water PFAS Update, August 2026, item 18.1 of the Ordinary Council Meeting business paper, 19 August 2026 (meeting portal PDF, read 9 October 2026): the same two estimates and the likely approach to the Water Minister.
  4. Narrabri Shire Council, Latest PFAS Test Results and project updates, media release, 29 September 2026 (read 9 October 2026): the safety statement, the endorsement condition and the bore updates.
  5. Narrabri Shire Council, PFAS (web page, read 9 October 2026): how the town supply is drawn, the Killarney bores' switch-off and the 21 July results.
  6. Narrabri Shire Council, Water Restrictions (web page, read 9 October 2026): Level 3 since 6 March 2026, the 1 May exemption, why restrictions continue and the plant timetable.
  7. Envirolab Services for NSW Health, Certificate of analysis 417822, Killarney Bore, issued 17 September 2026, sampled 8 September 2026 (PDF on the council's PFAS page, read 9 October 2026).
  8. Envirolab Services for NSW Health, Certificate of analysis, Namoi Reservoir, issued 18 September 2026, three samples taken 8 September 2026 (PDF on the council's PFAS page, read 9 October 2026).
  9. Envirolab Services for NSW Health, Certificate of analysis, Tibbereena Bore, issued 17 September 2026, sampled 8 September 2026 (PDF on the council's PFAS page, read 9 October 2026).
  10. Envirolab Services for NSW Health, Certificate of analysis, Elizabeth Bore, issued 17 September 2026, sampled 8 September 2026 (PDF on the council's PFAS page, read 9 October 2026).
  11. National Health and Medical Research Council, NHMRC Review of PFAS in Australian drinking water (web page dated 25 June 2025, read 9 October 2026): the guideline values for PFOS, PFHxS, PFOA and PFBS.

How we did this

We read the August and September PFAS reports and the 16 September minutes on the council's meeting portal and kept copies, with the council's PFAS and restrictions pages, its 29 September update and the four September laboratory certificates. The portal cannot be read by our quotation checker, so its quotations were matched against the saved PDFs. Test results are as the certificates give them, converted from µg/L to ng/L (1 µg/L is 1,000 ng/L); the reservoir figure is the highest of its three samples. The council's pages label this round 17 September; the certificates say the samples were taken on 8 September and issued on 17 and 18 September. The reports give no dollar figure for either estimate, and we have not guessed one. The reports date the contamination to 2024 and the PFAS page dates the Killarney switch-off to July 2025; we give each as its document does. “Section 60 endorsement” is the reports' term; we have not read the provision itself. We did not contact the council for this piece. The “our view” section is opinion based on the documents described.