Is Adelaide Tap Water Really That Bad? [2022 Update]

Ask any Adelaide resident what they think of the tap water and you’ll probably get, “I don’t drink it” as a response. Unfortunately for Adelaide and its residents, there is a widespread perception that the water quality of South Australia’s tap water is among the worst in the country, and many Adelaideans would have to agree.

As your resident local plumber with over 25 years of experience, Metropolitan knows a thing or two about tap water in Adelaide. We’re breaking down where Adelaide tap water comes from, the various treatment processes, why it tastes the way it does, and if it’s safe to drink.

Adelaide Water Supply

SA Water is Adelaide’s sole water provider and supplies our water from a range of sources. Surface water is the primary source of Adelaide water, accounting for 83 per cent of our total water supply in 2020-2021. These include bodies of water like Mt Bold reservoir and Myponga reservoir. Coming in second is recycled water at 14 per cent, with desalinated water at 3 per cent.

If you thought your water bill was a bit easier on the old hip pocket in this last financial year, you’d be right. The average residential water bill decreased 17.9 per cent from $1,337 in 2019-20 to $1,098 in 2020-21.

Testing Adelaide Tap Water Quality

With over 80 different water supply systems, SA Water has a number of processes in place to make sure the quality of your tap water meets Australian Drink Water Guidelines. Depending on the source and means of storage for that water, its treatment methods can vary.

Adelaide tap water quality is maintained through a range of treatment methods:

• chlorine – destroys bacteria and pathogens
• chloramine – destroys bacteria and pathogens primarily in longer water distribution systems
• reverse osmosis – used in desalination plants to remove up to 99 per cent of impurities and salt
• fluoride – added for its dental health effects, fluoride does not affect the taste, look or smell of drinking water
• membrane filtration – water passes through small pores on a membrane to better remove impurities
• iron removal – many South Australian groundwater sources are high in iron which, while not bad for our health, can discolour water at high concentrations
• magnetic ion exchange – improves the taste and smell of Adelaide drinking water by removing dissolved organic carbon
• ultraviolet – disinfects water to kill any bacteria, viruses and protozoa present in the water

Over 46,000 samples from drinking water supplies were taken and analysed to ensure Adelaide has safe drinking water and quality meets strict standards according to the SA Water 2020-21 Annual Report. All samples met the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

Is It Safe to Drink Tap Water in Adelaide?

Yes, Adelaide tap water is perfectly safe to drink. In 2020-21 Adelaide tap water met all Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. These guidelines outline numerous health and aesthetic qualities that our drinking water should meet.

The health criteria include:

• water hardness
• pH
• chlorine concentrations
• fluoride concentrations
• bacteria, viruses and other pathogens
• contaminants such as pesticides and fuel
• radiological quality

They also check for aesthetic criteria such as aroma, mouthfeel, colour and clarity.

Water Hardness Adelaide

Many people believe Adelaide’s water to be quite hard, but how true is this? The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines classify good quality water hardness for domestic use to be between 60 and 200 milligrams of minerals per litre (mg/L).

Adelaide customers’ tap water hardness ranged from 47 to 133mg/L in the SA Water 2020-21 Annual report. This falls in the ideal range laid out by the Drinking Water Guidelines, even a little soft for some areas.

Chlorine in Adelaide Drinking Water

The only category where SA Water did not have 100 per cent compliance with the Drinking Water Guidelines was with free residual chlorine concentrations from an aesthetic perspective. This is a measure of how much chlorine remains in the water after it has been disinfected.

Adding Chlorine to our water helps to prevent harmful bacteria and other organisms from growing due to the chemical’s disinfectant properties. From a health perspective, residual chlorine concentrations should not exceed 5mg/L. SA Water consistently met this parameter.

If chlorine concentrations exceed 0.6mg/L, however, your water can start to taste and smell bad.

On some occasions, SA Water measured concentrations up to 1.8mg/L. While not a problem or health risk for your health, this can explain the bad rap behind Adelaide’s tap water. On average, however, this concentration was at an acceptable aesthetic concentration between 0.2 and 0.4mg/L in 2020-21 though.

Why Does Adelaide Water Taste Bad?

Being at the end of the River Murray, SA Water has to grapple with treating water that has travelled long distances and picked up a whole host of contaminants along the way. While every effort is made to improve the taste and quality of South Australia’s tap water, only so much can be done.

Some areas of regional South Australia have high total dissolved solids which can affect the clarity and taste of the water. High concentrations of chlorine can also lead Adelaide water to taste bad.

The Evolution of Tap Water in Adelaide

Adelaide’s tap water has come a long way in the last 50 years. Back in the 1970s, many people considered the water to be so rancid that they would drink rainwater instead or disguise the taste with cordial.

In the 1980s the state’s governing water body figured out a way to remove the impurities to improve the taste. Today, the water is considered satisfactory but many homes feature water filters to use for drinking water. Many people also prefer bottled water instead of water from the tap.

The authorities conduct regular testing which indicates any changes in the levels of naturally occurring compounds in the water. However, most homes that have a water filter system in place will never notice any difference in the taste and smell of their drinking water. Water filters remove most chemicals from tap water including chlorine and ammonia that get added during the water treatment process.

How Can I Improve Water Quality in My Adelaide Home?

Certain things like running your cold water tap for two minutes before you drink it and cook with it can help. However, the best thing you can do is to install water filters and make sure your household plumbing is in working order. If your hot water system is more than 10 years old, you should consider replacing it.

A simple Google search for ‘Metropolitan Plumbing Adelaide‘ will bring up Metropolitan Plumbing. We have been in the game for more than 25 years and specialise in all plumbing services. If you are worried about the integrity of your plumbing, contact us today.

You can also read about the quality of tap water in Perth, Brisbane, and Melbourne.