If you believe there is a problem with our water supply, or you can’t work out the source of the issue, please check out the information below to see if you can resolve it.
What does it look like?
Water can look white with a milky or cloudy appearance
How does it happen?
White water is due to tiny air bubbles being dispersed through the drinking water pipes. This occurs when air is trapped in the pipes, for example, after a recent water outage in the area or maintenance works.
Is the water safe to use?
Yes, aerated water is safe to use.
Depending on which tap is affected, it is advised to check with us (or your drinking water provider, if not us) for any known issues in your area.
What can I do?
To tell if the water has air in it, fill a glass with water and allow it to stand.
- The cloudy appearance should clear from the bottom of the glass upwards. This shows the cause of the cloudiness is air bubbles.
The problem generally goes away by itself, however, you may need to run the front garden tap for a few minutes. If air is sputtering from the taps, continue flushing until the air is released.
If the water doesn’t clear within 24 h, please let us know.
- If the bubbles settle to the bottom of the glass it can indicate particles in the water. This can be visualised by placing the glass on a white sheet of paper. If this happens, see the “Coloured water” section.
Water can sometimes also become aerated and appear white from the hot water service. This should also disappear in a short time period although can sometimes mean the HWS is overheating.
- Fill a glass from hot and cold taps and place it on a sheet of white paper. If only water from the hot tap appears cloudy this may indicate an isolated issue. Contact your water heater manufacturer or a licensed plumber.
What does it look like?
In rare circumstances, your drinking water or recycled water can have a brown, yellow or muddy appearance and in drinking water, you may notice an unpleasant taste.
You may experience stains on clothes after a washing load.
How does it happen?
Coloured water can be caused in drinking water or recycled water pipes by a build-up of sediments in the water pipe over a period of time, particularly in new development areas and/or sections of the network where there is low demand or “dead ends”. A sudden increase in the rate or change in direction of water flow through the pipes (such as a sudden garden watering demand by a customer or after maintenance activities by the water utility) can then dislodge the sediments which cause the water to appear brown.
Another potential cause is elevated levels of iron and manganese present in the water, which generally occurs due to changes in the raw water as result of natural events such as drought, floods etc.
Is the water safe to use?
It’s recommended you wait until the water clears before drinking (if drinking water taps are affected), and for washing clothes as it may stain laundry (if recycled water is affected). Discoloured drinking water is safe for washing hands, showering, use in dishwashers, etc.
Depending on which tap is affected, it is advised to check with us (or your drinking water provider, if not us) for any known issues in your area. This can be checked on altogether’s website at https://altogethergroup.com.au/outages/
What can I do?
To determine whether the water discolouration is from internal piping or sediment from the water supply main, fill a clean white plastic bucket from a tap first thing in the morning and check the colour. If the water is yellow/brown, run the tap on full for about 2 minutes. If the water clears the pipes are probably the cause.
You can also check the front garden tap using the same bucket test, run this tap (at full flow) for about 2 minutes, then collect a sample in the white bucket. If the water is clear then the quality of water supplied via the main is satisfactory.
Finally, if a sample taken from the back garden tap has a higher level of discolouration or sediment, it is most likely that rusting internal piping is causing the problem. To confirm this, turn a tap on full for a few minutes. If the water clears, the colour or sediment is being caused by the piping.
To fix brown water caused by rusting internal piping contact a licensed plumber
If after a few minutes the water from the front garden tap continues to be brown/yellow, the problem is within the water supply system. This can sometimes occur in either drinking water or recycled water systems in new development areas and/or in dead-end streets or streets with low demand. In most cases, the problem will only exist for a short time. However, if the problem persists please contact us.
To clear discoloured water in your recycled water system
- Turn the front outside recycled water tap on first for up to 5 minutes until the water runs clear. This will prevent any further dirty water from being pulled into the house.
- Flush the recycled water tap at the back of the property to flush out any dirt left in the pipes.
- Catch the water in a bucket to use on your plants
- If your water still appears dirty after completing the above steps, please contact us.
To clear discoloured water in your drinking water system
- Turn the front outside drinking water tap on first for up to 5 minutes until the water runs clear. This will prevent any further dirty water from being pulled into the house.
- Work through the house from front to back, running individual taps one at a time until the water runs clear. The water inside the house is now clean.
- Flush the drinking water tap at the back of the property last to flush out any dirt left in the pipes.
- Catch the water in a bucket to use on your plants
- If your water still appears dirty after completing the above steps, please contact us.
Chlorine taste/odour
What does it look like?
You may occasionally notice a chlorine taste or odour in your water.
Chlorine is very effective in killing disease-causing pathogens (bacteria or viruses) that may be present in untreated water. Therefore, chlorine is added during the water purification process to ensure that the drinking water supplied to people’s homes is safe to drink.
How does it happen?
Chlorine has been used for over 100 years to disinfect water and make it safe to drink. It is recommended for use as a disinfectant of drinking and recycled water by both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
The amount of chlorine added to drinking and recycled water varies, depending on the characteristics of the untreated water and the other treatment processes that are being used to make the water safe for use. In drinking and recycled water treatment, normally between 1 and 1.5 mg/L is maintained to disinfect the water. As a comparison, amount of chlorine used to disinfect public swimming pools ranges between 2 and 3 mg/L.
Most people can notice the taste or smell of chlorine at very low concentrations, usually somewhere around 0.5 to 0.6 mg/L.
Is the water safe to use?
Yes, it is safe to use chlorinated water. Like most chemicals, if too much is present then it may cause a health problem. To ensure there are never any health problems associated with chlorine in drinking and recycled water, the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines / Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling have set a maximum amount of chlorine that can be added, known as the health-based guideline value, which is 5 mg/L.
Note that amount of chlorine added to the drinking and recycled water supplied by your water supplier is closely monitored to ensure it is well below the health-based guideline value.
Chlorine taste and odour in the water can change with seasonal water demands and proximity of customers property to the water treatment plant.
What can I do?
A way of easily and safely removing chlorine from your drinking water is to fill a jug with water and put it in your fridge or on the bench out of direct sunlight. The chlorine will naturally dissipate from the water.
Other taste/odour
Metallic
What does it look like?
Water may have a metallic taste
How does it happen?
Water with a metallic taste may be the result of rusting or corroding of steel water pipes, which could be either pipes inside the customers’ properties or pipes in the Altogether distribution pipe network.
What can I do?
For further information about these issues, refer to the sections on brown water and blue water.
If the issue persists please contact us.
Musty/earthy
What does it look like?
Water may have a stale or musty type taste or odour.
How does it happen?
Musty and earthy odour may be caused by either a build-up of sediment or organic matters in the pipes, or, by naturally occurring organic compounds present in the raw water.
Is the water safe to use?
Yes, the water is safe to use unless you have been otherwise advised by us us (or your drinking water provider, if not us).
Depending on which tap is affected, it is advised to check with us (or your drinking water provider, if not us) for any known issues in your area.
What can I do?
If the odour is caused by sediment build up, in most cases flushing the mains will remove the musty/ earthy odour.
Depending on which tap is affected, it is advised to check with us (or your drinking water provider, if not us) for any known issues in your area.
How does it happen?
This generally occurs after maintenance works on the system.
What can I do?
- Run water from the outside tap that is closest to your water meter to remove any air in the pipes.
- One at a time, slowly turn on your taps to allow any trapped air to escape.
- Leave the taps running until any milkiness or discolouration clears.
What does it look like?
Smell coming from bathroom / laundry drains.
How does it happen?
P-traps (part of the piping under the drains) can become empty allowing sewer gases to rise from the drain. This usually only happen in drains with infrequent use as the water evaporates over time.
What can I do?
Pour water down floor drains and any infrequently used sink and bathtubs. Flush any unused toilets.
If this doesn’t solve the problem you may need to look into cleaning the drains. There are many different methods to do this using e.g. vinegar and baking soda.
You can find out how Altogether manages water quality here: How altogether manages water quality