The Public Health Act and Regulation requires our potable water quality assurance program to comply with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. This means we test our tap water every week for a vast range of chemical and microbiological particles, ensuring that it is always safe to drink.
Clean Drink Water Strategy - Domestic Filter Units
Council has resolved to undertake short-term measures which are aimed to reduce the impact and incidence of coloured water.
Short term improvement measures include:
- routine and on call hydrant flushing when customers report coloured water; and
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installation of domestic filter units with replaceable cartridge filters in the worst affected areas, with four (4) washable filter cartridges supplied.
These units will be installed on the property side of the meter and become the responsibility of the property owner once installed. These systems have been tested over the past few months with those property owners being very happy with the results.
Council will supply the filter unit and four washable filter cartridges and they will be installed on the house side of the water meter by Council, or a selected contractor, at no cost to the property owner.
The filter cartridges need cleaning around every four to six weeks, which will be the responsibility of you or the occupants. Full maintenance instructions will be provided at the time of installation of the units. Each filter cartridge should last for around six months.
Once the filtration units are installed, they will become the responsibility of the property owner and any repairs or replacement filters will be borne by the same.
It should be noted that the treatment will ensure the water entering the property has reduced discolouration, however there will be several older properties with cast iron water pipes which may still experience discoloured water at times.
Formal consent is required, as the proposed installation of the domestic filter units:
- requires access and works to your property; and
- the acceptance that replacement cartridge filters and any future repairs will be the responsibility of the property owner.
To enquiry about a filtration unit please see details at the bottom of the page to contact the Water Sewer team.
Dirty Water Causes and Solutions
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Symptom |
Potential causes |
Corrective measures |
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Chlorine taste/odour |
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Sewage-like taste/odour |
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Earthy, mouldy, fishy taste/odour |
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Metallic taste/odour |
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Milky, white or cloudy water |
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Brown, red, orange or yellow water |
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Fluoride
Council does not currently add fluoride to our water, as the naturally occurring fluoride is close to the recommended dosage for improved dental health.
NSW Health promotes the use of water fluoridation to prevent dental decay. NSW Health says it is a safe, effective way of providing benefits to individuals of all ages in the community. They say extensive research supports water fluoridation as an effective measure in preventing and reducing tooth decay.
More information on the fluoridation of water can be found at NSW Health.
How to Clean Stained Clothes from Dirty Water
The staining of your laundry from discoloured water is due to particles of sediment lodged in the fabric. The stain usually only becomes permanent if the laundry is allowed to dry. It is therefore essential to keep stained laundry immersed in water and call Council for a Cleaning Kit. Do not use bleaching agents. They will only fix the stain and make it worse.
The staining is caused by iron and manganese. The stain is best removed by an acid based cleaning agent. There are several commercial rust removers that are available in the supermarket and hardware stores that work quite well. Citric Acid, which can be purchased from the baking section in the supermarket also works. Follow the instructions provided and always check for colourfastness before use.
