Water Quality

Chlorine is well established within the water industry and is a vital factor to ensuring the safety of the water we supply you.

If you are sensitive to the taste of chlorine, we recommend leaving a jug of water standing (open) on either a bench or in the fridge as the chlorine in the water will ‘gas-off’ if left overnight.  Sometimes adding lemon can help to neutralise the chlorine in the water.

Our monitoring programs show the water we supply is safe to consume. If we have reason to believe otherwise, we will notify the public immediately –  please visit service interruptions to confirm no alerts have been issued.

Earthy, musty, mouldy, or swampy tastes are usually caused by compounds produced by micro-organisms that occur naturally in our rivers. At times, when environmental conditions are favourable, these organisms can grow and release larger quantities of the taste and odour – which then become noticeable in your water.

The compounds causing this taste and smell are not harmful to human health and have no health guideline limits in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

Our monitoring programs show the water we supply is safe to consume. If we have reason to believe otherwise, we will notify the public immediately – please visit service interruptions to confirm no alerts have been issued.

If it does not clear in 7 days, please visit report a fault or call TasWater on 13 6992.

Please call us immediately on 13 6992.

The most common cause of metallic tasting water is corrosion in pipework. Many old pipes and fittings in homes and parts of our network were made from galvanised iron, cast iron or copper, which may have become degraded over time, influencing the taste and/or appearance of the water.

The issue may be particularly noticeable if the water has not been used for an extended period, such as after returning from holiday or if a house has been vacant for some time. Metallic tasting water is also more common in large buildings or properties with long lengths of pipework.

We recommend you flush out existing water and draw in fresh water from the main. Begin flushing at the tap closest to the front of the property or nearest the water main and work back through the house to a tap in the back garden. Run your tap for a few minutes.

If it does not clear or you still have concerns, please visit report a fault or call TasWater on 13 6992.

Our monitoring programs show the water we supply is safe to consume. If we have reason to believe otherwise, we will notify the public to confirm no alerts have been issued.

You may need to flush out existing water and draw in fresh water from the main. Begin flushing at the tap closest to the front of the property or nearest the water main and work back through the house to a tap in the back garden. Run your tap for ten minutes.

If it does not run clear, please visit report a fault or call TasWater on 13 6992.

Our monitoring programs show the water we supply is safe to consume. If we have reason to believe otherwise, we will notify the public immediately please visit service interruptions to confirm no alerts have been issued.

Green-blue discolouration in water is often associated with old copper plumbing or aging hot water systems. If it is limited to your hot water supply, we recommend you seek advice from a plumber.

If it does not clear or you still have concerns, please visit report a fault or call TasWater on 13 6992.

Our monitoring programs show the water we supply is safe to consume. If we have reason to believe otherwise, we will notify the public immediately – please visit service interruptions to confirm no alerts have been issued.

Cloudiness is usually tiny, trapped air bubbles in the water, giving a milky appearance. It is caused by air trapped inside a pressurised water main, and commonly occurs after pipeline maintenance has been conducted in your area.

Fill a glass with water and let it sit for a couple of minutes. If the water clears it indicates air in the water and there is no reason for concern. It is not dangerous to your health and will clear over the next few days.

You may need to flush out existing water and draw in fresh water from the main. Begin flushing at the tap closest to the front of the property or nearest the water main and work back through the house to a tap in the back garden. Run your tap for ten minutes.

If it does not clear, call us on 13 6992 to arrange for further investigation of your supply.

Our monitoring programs show the water we supply is safe to consume. If we have reason to believe otherwise, we will notify the public immediately – please visit service interruptions to confirm no alerts have been issued.

When the water is reconnected, some air and debris may enter the pipes and the water may appear milky in colour. We encourage customers to run an outside tap for a few minutes until the water runs clear. Should the water continue to remain discoloured after this time please visit report a fault or call TasWater on 13 6992 as we may need to investigate further.

Please visit blockages, leaks and floods for more information.

Yes. Water supply issues and changes can be caused by the plumbing on your property.

How to know if this is your internal plumbing?
- only some taps are affected in your house
- you have recently had plumbing work completed at your house
- the problem goes away after a few minutes of running water

If you think this is an issue with your household plumbing, please contact a local licensed plumber.

Is there something not quite right about your water supply? Please click here to notify our team of the issue.

We aim to respond to burst and leaking pipes as quickly as possible.  In some cases, TasWater will need to disconnect the water supply to surrounding areas so the pipe can be repaired. 

We will let you know if we need to do this via SMS if you are registered for notifications, through our service interruptions webpage and social media, and in some cases through the local media on radio or TV. Alternatively, please contact us on 13 6992 for more information.

Please use the sign up form on this webpage to register for SMS notifications.

We understand that Tasmanians may be adversely affected by an interruption to their water supply which is why we encourage customers who are vulnerable, have health concerns, young children or are experiencing other critical issues to contact TasWater on 13 6992 to see how we can assist.

Our infrastructure can suffer from leaks, breaks and other issues which means we may need to shut the water supply off at inconvenient times. Our crews try their best to minimize the amount of time the water supply is interrupted to your property while the issue is being rectified however, this sometimes means the supply may be interrupted for extended periods of time.

If you would like updates on outages in your area, sign up for SMS notification via the form on this webpage and check the service interruptions page.