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Water Quality

Health

In urban areas NSW Health supports the use of rainwater tanks for non-drinking uses, such as toilet flushing, washing clothes, garden watering, car washing, filling swimming pools, spas and ornamental ponds, and fire fighting. Rainwater can also be used in hot water systems.

NSW Health recommends that people use the public water supply for drinking and cooking because it is filtered, disinfected and generally fluoridated.

Water that is not going to be used for drinking or cooking does not pose a major health risk, so there's no need to test the water for chemical or microbial quality. The main water quality parameter affecting non-drinking uses is the aesthetic quality (i.e. colour and smell) of the water, which you can assess yourself.

For more information, please refer to the NSW Health website:

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pubs/2007/rainwater_tanks.html

http://enhealth.nphp.gov.au/council/pubs/documents/rainwater_tanks.pdf

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/ehb/water/rainwater.html

Rainwater collection

It's important to find out if your roofing materials or the paint used in your catchment areas contains lead or other chemicals that could contaminate your tank water. Speak to your rainwater tank supplier about testing roofing materials.

Good maintenance is the key to good water quality. Installing screens helps to keep physical contaminants out of your tank, as do first flush devices. Remember to regularly clean first flush devices, gutters and guards.

Backflow prevention

It is important to protect drinking water from any risk of contamination through backflow from tanks into the water supply. This is why we are fitting new meters incorporating a backflow prevention device to most residential properties.