That is the bold prediction to arise from a special presentation last night by Zinifex Port Pirie Smelter general manager Matt Howell.

Mr Howell told of a new study by the company which suggested lead-in-soil levels had fallen dramatically and “overwhelmingly” in the past 20 years.

“It has improved quite remarkably,” he told councillors at the Port Pirie Regional Council meeting.

And he said lead-in-air had decreased also and this was shown by the declining blood-lead levels of workers at the smelter who wore no breathing masks while on duty.

And an even greater improvement for workers and residents is predicted when a $10 million enclosure over the blast furnace is finished in the next seven days.

This will be coupled with benefits from a coal injection replacement at the slag fumer and a $10 million project to cover materials at the plant.

Lead dust has swirled over Port Pirie, the home of the world’s biggest lead smelter, for more than 100 years.

Mr Howell told the civic leaders that the company would “aspire” to a situation in which rainwater tanks in Port Pirie would be used by residents in the same way as those in Canberra or Darwin and their water would be within safe health limits.

He was referring to a ban on drinking rainwater in the city since the 1980s.

It arose because lead dust on roofs was finding its way into tanks and into adults’ and children’s bodies.

Now, for the first time since then, the company is talking of bringing Port Pirie back to a normal lifestyle in the long-term.

Outside the council chambers, Mr Howell said he had not seen rainwater analysis, but as an “aspirational high” the company wanted to see a switch back to normal practices.

He said if emission controls continued to be effective, “in the foreseeable future, we will get to the point where there is no reason why people cannot use their rainwater”.

Listening to Mr Howell’s presentation was Brian Roderick, of the Environmental Protection Authority, and Health Department representatives.

Mr Howell said the latest study was a “snapshot” only and not a rigorous scientific study.

“We believe there has been a significant reduction in the distribution of lead across the community,” he said.