River Murray flooding sees temporary change to regional tap water

SA Water customers in the Riverland, Murraylands, Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley regions may notice a temporary change in the taste and smell of their tap water, as a result of flooding down the River Murray causing a rapid reduction in river water quality.

Importantly, as confirmed by SA Health, the water remains safe to drink.

SA Water’s Senior Manager of Infrastructure, Planning and Strategy Dr Daniel Hoefel said the temporary change in water characteristics may be apparent until the river water quality improves over the coming weeks and months.

“Our water treatment plants are designed to manage a range of water quality challenges throughout the water treatment process – including at the source – and for many months, we’ve been undertaking rigorous testing and monitoring to best manage any potential aesthetic impacts on our customers’ drinking water supply,” Daniel said.

“This includes adjusting our water treatment processes and undertaking operational work as required, such as flushing fresh water through our connected pipeline network to optimise the water age and ensure a stable level of disinfection before it reaches people’s taps.

“We advised our local customers prior to the flood event that there may be changes to their tap water supply, and we are now seeing that the continued deterioration of water quality is presenting challenges in our ability to maintain the normal aesthetic water characteristics in some areas.

“As a result, some of our customers in areas directly supplied with treated River Murray water, such as the Riverland, Murraylands, and parts of the Barossa and Adelaide Hills, may notice their tap water has an earthy taste and odour compared to what they normally experience.

“This will likely continue for some time, as receding flood levels bring more organic material into the river system.

“Importantly, our customers can be assured that our testing continues to demonstrate that their tap water remains safe to drink and complies with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (2011).

“While parts of metropolitan Adelaide also receive water supplied by the River Murray, the flexibility of our water network and healthy reservoir storages in the Mount Lofty Ranges means there is likely to be no significant impact to the quality of their normal tap water supply.

“Our team has spent many months throughout the River Murray flood event to maintain the reliability of our drinking water systems and prevent any supply interruptions for customers, and we will continue to do so as water levels subside.”

Acting as an independent regulator, SA Health ensures that drinking water supplied to SA Water customers is safe, according to the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act (2011), and the Safe Drinking Water Regulations (2012).

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