Daily drinking water quality report
We have a number of steps in place to ensure your tap water is high quality and safe to drink.
Our daily report confirms the performance of our water filtration plants and water delivery systems.
Learn about the quality of drinking water in your area by entering your address below.
Your water’s journey – from source to tap
Collecting the water
WaterNSW supplies us with rainwater collected from local lakes and rivers. They monitor these sources so they can choose the best water for us to filter.
During times of water scarcity, we also source water from the ocean using desalination.
The source water quality is measured by turbidity (the amount of suspended particles in the water) and other characteristics such as the amount of natural matter.
Treating your water
We have nine filtration plants. We use tailored processes, depending on the quality of the source water.
Firstly, the water flows through fine screens to remove debris, like twigs and leaves.
We then add a solution (coagulant) that causes the smaller particles to stick together (floc) so they can be more easily filtered out.
Finally, we filter the water through tightly packed beds of sand and anthracite to remove any remaining particles. Our daily report confirms how turbidity levels compare with our limit of 0.5 units.
Our filters are designed to filter out particles, including Cryptosporidium and Giardia.
We ensure your water is safe by carefully adding small amounts of chlorine at our plants. This is called primary chlorination. Our daily report confirms how chlorine levels compare with our target of 0.5 milligrams per litre for 30 minutes.
Chlorine is a safe and effective way to ensure your drinking water is free of harmful bacteria and viruses.
pH is a measure of how acidic or basic your water is. We carefully balance the pH of your water to boost the chlorine’s effectiveness.
We also add fluoride to protect the health of your teeth. This is done under advice from NSW Health.
Our daily report confirms how fluoride levels compare with our limit of 1.5 milligrams per litre.
Getting water to your home
After the filtration plant, we send your water to secure and covered reservoirs in your area. The reservoirs are connected by pipes to the taps in your home.
To ensure your water remains protected right to your tap, we add small amounts of chlorine to our reservoirs. This is called secondary chlorination.
Our daily report confirms how chlorine levels at your tap compare with our limit of 5 milligrams per litre.
We monitor our water pipes for leaks and breaks to further protect your water and ensure it’s not wasted.
Verifying water quality
Finally, we collect and test samples taken from our entire network.
We’re confident these steps ensure your drinking water is of the highest quality and safe for you and your family.