Advice to Batlow residents to boil their drinking water has been lifted, more than two weeks after bushfire devastated parts of their community.
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The Batlow hospital has also reopened as of Thursday, after being forced to close by the Dunns Road fire earlier in January.
Residents were advised they should boil their drinking supplies after raw water was added to the town's network, to maintain a high enough supply for firefighting purposes.
According to Snowy Valleys Council, Batlow householders should flush all internal and external taps for a minimum of 10 minutes to draw fresh water into their plumbing and to flush any raw water from their systems. For residents with long pipeline services, the flushing time will need to be longer.
While Batlow's water not longer needs to be boiled, the council says the advice to boil water in Tumbarumba remains in place.
As the Batlow hospital reopens, acting facility manager Judith McGrath has thanked the NSW Rural Fire Service and all the volunteers who defended our hospitals during the devastating bush fires.
"We are so delighted to be welcoming our wonderful residents back to their home here at the MPS," Ms McGrath said.
"We have missed our lovely residents and are having a special welcome back party to celebrate their return."
Aged care residents from the hospital, which is officially known as the Batlow-Adelong Multi-Purpose Service, were relocated during the bushfire emergency.
Staff even travelled with them to their temporary homes at Cootamundra and Junee hospitals.
"It was really great that our staff could be located with our residents and it helped them adjust to the unfamiliar setting," said Ms McGrath.
"Some of our residents even enjoyed the relocation and said it felt like they had been on holidays."
According to the Murrumbidgee Local Health District ,safety checks are still under way at the Tumbarumba MPS, with plans to return aged residents next week.
Twelve facilities across the MLHD were affected by the fires, with aged care residents and acute patients from Tumut, Batlow and Tumbarumba relocated to Cootamundra, Junee, Narrandera, Temora, Wagga and West Wyalong.
Gundagai and Holbrook were also on high alert during the peak of the bush fires and Adelong Community Centre was temporarily closed.