Council: Dam change behind taste to drinking water

Council has responded after several people living near the city said their tap water had taken on a “dirty” aftertaste – here’s why.

HIGHFIELDS and Meringandan residents have voiced their concerns on the towns’ drinking water, with some noticing a change to its taste and smell.

Several people living in the area said their tap water had taken on a “dirty” aftertaste this month, while others said they felt the water was flavoured by chlorine.

Meringandan local Shari Howell said she had made the switch to bottled water after her six-year old complained about the taste.

“We recently had our filter replaced to our tap, so it was a shock to me to taste the tap water recently and how terrible it tasted,” Ms Howell said.

“It doesn’t taste like dirt, doesn’t taste like chemicals, it tastes like unhealthy sludge.

“My six year old kept asking me to tip out his drink bottle and wash it because the water tasted yucky, I finally clued on it was because I was refilling it with the tap water, albeit filtered.”

Jaco van Zyl, who also lives in Meringandan, said he hadn’t noticed a change in taste of the water, but rather a change in smell.

“I would say around the start of December I started to notice a kind of sulphur smell when I turned on the shower, but only in the morning,” Mr van Zyl said.

“The water doesn’t taste bad or look murky or anything, it’s just the initial smell.

“I’ve only just started to smell this in the last few months, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”

Toowoomba Regional Council Water and Waste Committee Chair Cr Rebecca Vonhoff said water to the area came from the Mt Kynoch Treatment Plant.

“The Mt Kynoch Water Treatment Plant is currently undergoing an upgrade and as part of the upgrade a condition assessment was completed to ensure there was no drop in service to residents connected to this supply,” Cr Vonhoff said.

“During this process council began taking water from Cooby Dam exclusively rather than Cressbrook Dam.

“The water from Cooby Dam is usually only used to supplement supply during high demand rather than as a primary source.

“While the water from Cooby Dam is treated to the same standard and complies with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, there is a difference in the taste between the water from Cressbrook and Cooby.”

Cr Vonhoff said the switch in supply was temporary.

“While the taste may be different, I would like to assure our residents that the water has always been safe to drink and is tested on a daily basis as per our normal protocols,” she said.

“This was only a temporary change with council now reverting back to our supply from Cressbrook Dam.”