Murray River threatened by heavy metals
Friday, April 25th, 200825/4/08
Water supplies to Adelaide and many regional towns in South Australia could be threatened by levels of heavy metals in the Murray River system up to 100 times above safe levels. The CSIRO has discovered dangerous levels of heavy metals such as aluminium, zinc, nickel, iron and cadmium leeching from exposed soil in dried-up wetlands near the mouth of the Murray, south-east of Adelaide, ABC TV reported tonight. In a draft report, a CSIRO team has found soil exposed by receding water is turning acidic, the ABC said. This in turn could cause heavy metals trapped in the soil to be released.
