Why
am I experiencing discoloured water?
Water discolouration can occur for various reasons with the most
common cause being a disturbance of natural sediment build-up within the mains.
The most common reasons you may
experience water discolouration include:
Accidental break in the
main
–
this usually occurs at the most inconvenient time.
Peak holiday periods – during times of high-volume water usage, especially over busy
holiday periods when our population increases considerably.
What do I do if I experience discoloured water?
Consult with neighbours and if the problem does not appear to be isolated to an individual house contact us immediately so that we can investigate the problem.
If you do experience discoloured water, try running your outside tap for 5-10 minutes until the water clears. By running your front garden tap you will prevent the discoloured water from entering your internal lines. If you notice discoloured water inside the house, start with the front tap and run it until the water clears, then run your backyard tap for a few minutes to help clear the lines inside the house.
Is discoloured water safe to drink?
Whilst discoloured water is
generally safe, it is unpalatable and it is not recommended for drinking. Water
can be safely boiled and when cooled, palatable for drinking.
What is
Shoalhaven Water doing to prevent discoloured water?
To help maintain our
systems, Shoalhaven Water regularly undertakes a scheduled program of water
mains flushing across the city. This can also be known as scouring. Our regular
maintenance program scouring the mains helps to remove sediment build-up that
can accumulate normally within the water supply system.
The flushing process
consists of cleaning or ‘scouring’ the interior of water distribution system by
sending a rapid flow of water through the mains. By flushing the water under
higher release pressure, the build-up of sediment is dislodged.
Shoalhaven Water notify
residents prior to any planned scouring occurring.
If you are experiencing any of these problems call us and we can investigate to see if the water is coming from our mains or whether it is an internal plumbing problem.