Water quality

Cloudy, milky, white or aerated water is usually caused by tiny, dissolved air bubbles, and is common after repair works on your water main. Dissolved air in water is harmless and will clear by itself after a short time period.

To determine if air is dissolved in your water, fill a glass with water and leave to sit.The cloudiness should clear from the bottom upwards, over a few minutes.

Water can look brown or muddy when there is sediment in the mains after a sudden increase in the rate or direction of water flow. Sediment is naturally organic matter, lasts a short time, and is not a health risk. It can occur at any time, but is more common in spring or summer when water use increases.

If your water is orange or brown, it may be from rusty iron house pipes in older homes. Compare the water from inside your house with the water from your garden tap to see if your house pipes are causing the problem. You may need to consult a licenced plumber.

Corroded copper house pipes can make your tap water look blueish or greenish, and result in an unpleasant, metallic or bitter taste. Compare the water from inside your house with the water from your garden tap to see if your house pipes are causing the problem. If your water is blueish or greenish from copper, do not drink it, top up any fishponds or home aquariums, or use your washing machine. Consult a licenced plumber.

Tastes and odours can be caused by a range of naturally occurring compounds present in your water, including chemicals for disinfection, and less commonly, contamination in the water source or distribution system.

Some examples of naturally-occurring chemicals that might impart a taste, flavour or different mouth-feel are:

• sodium (salty)
• manganese, iron, copper, zinc (metallic mouth-feel)
• calcium (chalky, “thick” mouth-feel)
• geosmin and MIB (earthy/musty).

The first three examples can be naturally present in the water due to the geology around the water source, or it can be leached from pipes in the home. Geosmin and MIB are produced in water sources by blue-green algae (cyanobacteria).

We add chlorine to your water to kill unwanted micro-organisms. Sometimes chlorine reacts with organic matter in the pipes and creates a noticeable taste or smell. The chlorine taste may be more obvious after pipes have been flushed as part of ongoing maintenance.

Letting water stand in a jug (for example in your fridge) will usually eliminate the chlorine taste and smell.

The range and concentration of naturally occurring chemicals that result in taste and odours typically change seasonally. Also, some customers receive water from different water sources depending on water storage levels and demand.

Some taste and odour causing chemicals are removed during filtration during the treatment process. In order to remove all taste and odour causing chemicals, additional complex treatment processes are required. These are expensive and present further risks associated with additional chemical handling and use.

Old or rusty house pipes can make your water taste like metal. Please consult a licenced plumber.

Drains can become blocked by soap, hair and food waste, resulting in unpleasant odours if left trapped in the pipes. Periodically disassembling drain traps to remove any clogged debris can assist with unwanted odours.

Although less common, hydrocarbons can also leach through PVC pipes and cause chemical taste and odours to be detected in household plumbing if products like petrol, paints or pesticides are used within close proximity of the pipes.

Absolutely! To ensure the water remains safe to drink, we routinely monitor the water to ensure it meets the Australian Drinking Water and the World Health Organisation guidelines.

Our water treatment plants and secondary disinfection plants use a range of methods to make your water safe for drinking:

• Chlorination – Apollo Bay, Birregurra, Colac, Gellibrand, Forrest, Lorne, Moorabool and Wurdee Boluc water treatment plants, and Alvie, Bellarine, Highton, Lara, Meredith, Montpellier, Ocean Acres, Pettavel, Queenscliff, Torquay secondary disinfection plants.
• Chloramination – Aireys Inlet, Anakie, Bannockburn, Clifton Springs, Lovely Banks, Ocean Grove, Portarlington, Teasdale secondary disinfection plants.
• Ultraviolet irradiation – Forrest and Gellibrand water treatment plants.

The type of method used depends on a number of factors, including source water quality, size of the network and potential rate of consumption.

Chlorine is the most widely used disinfectant. It is particularly effective against bacteriological organisms and is most suited to shorter distribution systems.

Chloramine is an alternative disinfection chemical produced by combining chlorine with ammonia. The ammonia component stabilises the chlorine so disinfection can be sustained for longer in the drinking water reticulation system.

Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection is typically used to support chlorine disinfection where there may be a higher risk of particular harmful organisms (e.g Cryptosporidium) that are resistant to chlorination or chloramination alone..

Chlorine begins to decrease slowly over time and as temperatures increase. We need to add enough at the start of the pipeline so customers at the end of the system receive safe drinking water. This means that houses closest to where the chlorine or chloramine gets added are more likely to taste it, whereas those further away are less likely.

Sometimes we need to vary the amount of chlorine added with changes in the water coming into the treatment plant, so the concentration at your tap might also change from time to time. Many customers are sensitive to the taste of chlorine, so it can be detected in the water even at low concentrations.

The amount of chlorine/chloramine added to your water is always at a level safe to drink, even when the taste seems strong.

Letting water stand in a jug (for example in your fridge) will usually eliminate the chlorine taste and smell.

Yes. We add chlorine and chloramine at levels that are harmless to human health. Both chlorine and chloramine can react with other components that are naturally present in the water and there may be products of these reactions. To ensure the water remains safe to drink, we routinely monitor water to ensure it meets the Australian Drinking Water and the World Health Organisation guidelines.

The chlorine levels in the water supply are between 0.2–1 milligrams per litre (mg/L). The Australian Drinking Water Health Guideline Limit is 5 mg/L.

Yes. Our treated water is safe for garden use. However, water treated with chloramines should not be used in fish ponds or home aquariums.

Different water sources require different treatment processes. The treatment processes and associated treatment aids vary by location, and sometimes by season.

In addition to the disinfectants added to kill potentially harmful micro-organisms, we may also use:

• coagulants and flocculants to bind together organic particles to clarify water
• pH regulators to adjust the acidity or alkalinity of water, and
• fluoride to prevent dental decay, as directed by the Victorian Government.

PFOA = perfluorooctanoic acid
PFHxS = perfluorohexane sulfonate
PFOS = perfluorooctane sulfonate

Apollo Bay Raw Water

Note: ND (Not Detected) indicates that PFAS concentrations were below the laboratory's limit of detection, which is typically less than 2 ng/L.

Birregurra Raw Water

Note: ND (Not Detected) indicates that PFAS concentrations were below the laboratory's limit of detection, which is typically less than 2 ng/L.

Colac Raw Water

Note: ND (Not Detected) indicates that PFAS concentrations were below the laboratory's limit of detection, which is typically less than 2 ng/L.

Forrest Raw Water

Note: ND (Not Detected) indicates that PFAS concentrations were below the laboratory's limit of detection, which is typically less than 2 ng/L.

Gellibrand Raw Water

Note: ND (Not Detected) indicates that PFAS concentrations were below the laboratory's limit of detection, which is typically less than 2 ng/L.

Lorne Raw Water

Note: ND (Not Detected) indicates that PFAS concentrations were below the laboratory's limit of detection, which is typically less than 2 ng/L.

Moorabool Raw Water

Note: ND (Not Detected) indicates that PFAS concentrations were below the laboratory's limit of detection, which is typically less than 2 ng/L.

Wurdee Boluc Raw Water

Note: ND (Not Detected) indicates that PFAS concentrations were below the laboratory's limit of detection, which is typically less than 2 ng/L.