Gold Coast tap water in Pimpama still within quality requirements despite ‘disgusting’ taste and smell

Frustrated residents in a popular Gold Coast suburb say their tap water is ‘disgusting’ and ‘smells’ — but council says it’s fine to drink and meets quality requirements.

RESIDENTS of the northern Gold Coast said they are stuck with undrinkable water with even animals shunning the “disgusting” supply currently coming out of the taps.

In the last week more than a dozen households around Pimpama have complained about a distinctly chemical taste and smell from their council-supplied water source.

Annette Zanker told the Bulletin she had noticed the strong smelling water at home recently.

“Our dog was also refusing to drink the water!” she said.

“The water is not nice to shower in and we don’t drink it, we use filtered water.”

Ms Zanker said she was looking into installing filters in her shower to avoid it altogether.

Pimpama residents said their tap water quality has taken a turn for the worse in the last month.

More residents revealed they have resorted to buying water to avoid ingesting tap water, which they say has deteriorated in the last month.

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Nardine Smith took to social media to raise her concerns about the ill-tasting supply.

“It’s absolutely disgusting. Tastes full of chemicals. I won’t even feed it to my fur babies,” she posted.

Lehlah Maree said the water at her house was “dreadful” while Patricia Taepa said she had noticed a “funny” smell at home.

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Residents say the water smells like ‘chlorine’

Another resident said she had been experiencing problems for years.

“Water at times has smelt like this on and off for years, in particular the smell of chlorine. “When my kids were younger they’d get a rash after a bath,” she said.

But Gold Coast City Council said the supply has been tested and there is nothing wrong with it.

“Recent water quality testing and investigations conducted in areas of Pimpama and the NATA-accredited laboratory results indicate there have been no changes in the drinking water supplied by the City to properties in Pimpama,” a spokeswoman said.

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“(It) continues to meet water quality requirements of the Guidelines.”

The spokeswoman said sometimes chemicals can be tasted in the water supply, but claimed it is still safe to use.

“Chlorine is added to drinking water during the water treatment process … to protect water supplies from bacteria and virus,” she said.

“Some customers may notice the taste and smell of chlorine even though the levels of chlorine are within the Guideline limits.

“Extensive water quality testing is routinely performed across the City’s drinking water networks to ensure a high quality water supply.”

The spokeswoman urged residents to report any concerns directly to council so they can be investigated by water quality scientists.

Division one councillor Donna Gates told the Bulletin she had recently been contacted by an Ormeau resident who had problems with discoloured water from new pipes in her division, however she had not been notified of other complaints in the northern area.