We add chlorine to your water to kill unwanted micro-organisms, such as E.-coli, that may be present. Sometimes chlorine reacts with organic matter in the pipes and creates a noticeable taste or smell. It can often be more obvious after pipes have been flushed as part of our ongoing maintenance schedule.

The chlorine concentration is generally very low (less than one part per million) and can be reduced further by letting the water sit in the fridge in an open jug for a short period prior to consumption, or by installing a household filter.

Water can look brown or muddy when there is sediment in the pipes. This is often due to a scheduled flushing program to clear any sediment build-up or discolouration in water mains near your property.

However, it could also be due to a burst water main close to your property. Generally these happen unexpectedly, and our maintenance team responds as soon as possible to restore services to customers. If you notice a burst, please contact our 24 hour hotline on 1300 926 666 to report the location.

An earthy or musty taste and odour can be caused by build-up of sediment and organic matter in our network or in the interior plumbing at your property.

Occasionally, naturally occurring organisms in our raw water storages can cause earthy or musty tastes and odours, particularly during hotter months. When this occurs, the water supply may be impacted.

If you experience an earthy or musty taste or smell, run one of your taps for a few minutes to flush any older water through your home's pipes.

If the problem persists, please call us on 1300 926 666 so we can investigate and take action as soon as possible.

It may be due to seasonal compounds such as Geosmin and Methylisoborneol (MIB) or cyanobacteria (commonly known as blue-green algae).

We regularly monitor our water storages for the presence of algae, Geosmin and MIB. If the levels rise higher than usual, we work to resolve the issue with actions that may include changing the source of the water, adjusting the treatment process or flushing our network.

Despite the smell and odour, the water is still perfectly safe to drink and complies with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. Using a jug-type filter or similar can help if you find the water too unpleasant.

Geosmin and Methylisoborneol (MIB)

Human noses and tastebuds can detect Geosmin and MIB at very low concentrations. These compounds are sometimes present in drinking water, but not usually at noticeable levels.

Changes in the temperature can increase some kinds of algae and bacteria that are naturally present in our water sources. This can cause a rise in Geosmin and/or MIB above the taste and odour threshold.

Unfortunately, although harmless, they can cause a very strong, unpleasant taste and smell. People who are sensitive may still be able to detect the odour at extremely low levels.

We appreciate people’s patience and understanding as we work to resolve the issue.

Blue green algae

Blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) are naturally occurring bacteria which are found in the majority of waterways and reservoirs. There are a number of different species (toxic and non-toxic) that can produce taste and odour issues.

Hot weather, high nutrient levels and slow flowing water in reservoirs can provide optimal conditions for algae to flourish and rapidly increase in numbers. This can make the water smell earthy or musty. We do our best to remove these odours in our treatment plant, however some people may still notice a faint taste or odour in their drinking water.

Taste and odour causing substances produced by algae only affect the aesthetics of the water and are harmless. The water is still perfectly safe to drink.

Air can enter the water supply following repairs to our pipe network – for example, after we have carried out maintenance work or fixed a burst main. It can also occur when a pocket of air becomes trapped in the pipework inside your home.

Water with air in it has a cloudy or milky white appearance, caused by the concentration of thousands of tiny air bubbles. This can take several minutes to clear, and will do so from the bottom of the glass upwards.

You may also notice that the water splutters out of the tap, which is again caused by trapped air in the pipe. This is quite normal and harmless, and the problem should clear if you run the tap for a few minutes.

If your water is an orange/brown colour when you first run your tap but clears after a short period, or if it tastes metallic and bitter, this usually indicates high levels of iron or copper. Both can leach into your water from corroded pipes.

Corrosion can occur when the plumbing is old, particularly with cast iron or copper pipes. In some instances, it can only take a small length of pipe to produce the discolouration.

Running your taps for about 30 seconds to draw fresh water through may resolve the issue. If not resolved, a pipe burst or leak can occur. Consult a plumber for advice

Water with very low levels of dissolved oxygen will develop a septic/rotten egg odour, but this should not happen in your drinking water. The most common cause of this type of problem is the drain.

Over time, organic matter such as hair, soap and food waste can accumulate on the walls of the drain. Bacteria can then grow on that organic matter. What you can smell is the gas produced by the bacteria.

You will be more likely to smell the rotten egg odour when water from the shower or kitchen tap runs over the drain.

You can alleviate this smell by rinsing your drain with a strong disinfectant bleach.

Hardness levels depend on the natural mineral deposits (i.e. rocks and soils) from the catchment that supply our water. It is measured by the amount of calcium carbonate in water in milligrams per litre (mg/L).

The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (2011) have a scale of water hardness as it impacts on water quality. Water less than 60 mg/L is regarded as “soft”, while water higher than 200 mg/L is described as “hard”.

Our supplies range from an average of 14 mg/L in towns supplied by a surface water catchment to 440 mg/L in towns where the water is sourced from the ground.

The quickest way to work out whether your water is hard is to try to lather soap. If it doesn’t lather up, your water is hard. If it lathers extremely easily, then it is soft.

When hard water is heated, the minerals that cause hardness come out of the water and are deposited as scale. This can affect kettles, hot water services, dishwashers, pipes and fittings. Scale is harmless, but over time it builds up.

The most common way to reduce the build up of scale is keeping the temperature of your hot water system low – but above 60°C to meet Australia Standards

More information is available in our Water Hardness Information Sheet.

Sudden changes in your water pressure could be due to planned or emergency works in your local area. Normal water pressure will be restored when the work is complete.

If your pressure is regularly low there may be other causes. Consult a plumber for advice.

We add fluoride to our drinking water to prevent dental decay, as directed by the Victorian Government and endorsed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Water supplies in Warrnambool, Allansford, Koroit, Hamilton, Dunkeld, Tarrington, Camperdown, Lismore, Derrinallum, and along the Camperdown rural pipeline all have fluoride added.

The Department of Health (DoH) has directed us to fluoridate the water at the Terang WTP. This will mean customers served by the Terang WTP (Terang, Noorat, Glenormiston and Mortlake) can expect to receive fluoridated water by late 2023.

The water in Portland and Port Fairy contains naturally-occurring fluoride Other supply areas are not currently connected to a fluoridated supply.

The addition of fluoride to our drinking water is carefully controlled and monitored, and doesn’t change its taste, smell or colour. Fluoride is added to an optimum dosage of one part per million (one milligram per litre), as declared by the NHMRC.

More information is available from the Department of Health.

We produce a Drinking Water Quality Annual report each year. For more information, visit the Annual Water Quality Reports page.

If you remain concerned about your water quality, don't just ask yourself why? Follow it up with us on 1300 926 666 and we’ll try and work through a solution with you. We're here to help.

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It seems that everyone that works for Wannon Water gets a vehicle to drive around in.

Wow! We wish! It would probably help strengthen our reputation as an employer of choice.

Seriously though, as Victoria’s second largest water corporation by area (23,500 square kilometres), we manage more than 11,000 assets across 34 communities to ensure safe drinking water and effective sewage removal.

That means we need to be available 24/7 to maintain nearly 2,000 kilometres of water mains and more than 1,000 kilometres of sewer mains. Interestingly, if we laid our pipes end-to-end, they’d stretch all the way from Warrnambool to Cape York!

In actual fact, we have 248 employees and 111 vehicles that cover around 2.5 million kilometres a year. Only 20 of the vehicles are cars, meaning 91 are assigned to our field employees who are there to operate and maintain our facilities and networks.

With such a huge region, we’re pretty proud of how we respond to bursts and leaks. In the past year, we attended 28 burst water mains, 11 sewer blockages and 182 jobs to repair water service connections each month.

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Water falls from the sky, and you get it for free. I’m at a loss as to what I am paying for!

While water does fall free from the sky, it doesn’t always fall when we need it, where we need it, and in the right quantities and quality to meet our customers’ needs.

When you pay for water from us, you’re paying for water you can trust to be clean and safe to drink. It’s also delivered out of every tap in your home or business, whenever you need it, at any time of day - all for less than two cents a litre.

This involves building, operating and maintaining a network of thousands of kilometres of water pipes and other assets, such as pumps, water towers, reservoirs and treatment plants.

When rain falls and runs off into our creeks and streams, it can mix with soils and other substances, including microscopic organisms, that can cause illness and diseases in humans.

Therefore, we need to treat it to remove contaminants and then disinfect it so it’s safe to drink. We continually monitor and test the quality of the water as it moves through the network to make sure it’s of high quality throughout its journey.

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Your household consumers are forced to pay more for your quarterly fixed sewage and water fees every three months which, in our case, are higher than our consumption rate.

If you own your home, you’ll pay about $192 in fixed water service charges and $846 in fixed sewerage charges each year.

The water charge helps us cover the cost of maintaining and upgrading our water supply network including reservoirs, pump stations and treatment plants.

It also helps us maintain and renew nearly 2,000 kilometres of water mains. If we laid them end-to-end, they’d stretch from our coastline to Mount Isa.

The sewerage charge helps us cover the cost of taking away and treating your sewage. Unlike water, there’s no meter to monitor the amount you produce but, on average, this waste would fill the equivalent of 30 big brown bins per household eeach week. Just imagine having to dispose of that yourself!

The charge also helps us to maintain and upgrade our sewerage system including pump stations, treatment plants, lagoons and biosolid facilities.

And it helps us to maintain and renew more than 1,000 kilometres of sewer mains. If we laid them end-to-end, they would stretch from our coastline to the Queensland border.

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I have paid you every month for more than 15 years for a water supply to my land. I did not request this service. There is no house and no one lives there.

Your service charges are based on the services that are available to your property.

Even if your block isn’t connected to any of the services, we still need to maintain our essential water and sewerage networks.

These charges are around $192 a year for water services and $254 for sewerage services.

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I am concerned about PFAS/forever chemicals in the water. To the best of my knowledge, you do not provide information on testing for this and whether they use reverse osmosis to purify the water. Our family is looking at installing reverse osmosis but it would be better for the whole community if you did this.

PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) are a group of manufactured chemicals that have been widely used in industrial and consumer products since the 1950s.

PFAS are emerging contaminants that can persist for a long time in humans and in the environment. They are commonly found in and around populated areas throughout Australia and internationally. There is far more PFAS found in other products compared to water supplies (e.g. non-stick pans, sunscreen, raincoats and make up).

Following recent changes to international guidelines and an independent review, the NHMRC lowered the acceptable levels on how much PFAS a person can consume on a daily basis without risk to their health.

We regularly sample and test the quality of our water to ensure that it complies with the ADWG and take a risk-based approach to test for the presence of PFAS-related chemicals.

All our drinking water continues to comply with the new NHMRC levels and is safe to drink.

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I do think when you’re aware my property is using excess water you could alert me with either an email or text. The reason I say this is that my pipes are a good 60 centimetres in the ground and it takes a long time for the leak to come to the surface.

Your quarterly water bill may sometimes be much more than usual due to a leak or unexplained high water meter reading.

In some cases, we can offer a rebate to cover part of the unexpected cost. You can contact us for more details.

We usually contact customers via a phone call or letter to warn them if we notice that their water use is much higher than the previous reading.

It’s easy to use your water meter to check leaks. Simply follow these steps:

1. Turn off all water appliances but leave the meter’s stop tap on.
2. Read your water meter and write down the numbers.
3. Wait for an hour, making sure you don’t use any water.
4. Once the hour is up, read your meter again.
5. If the two readings are different, you may have a leak. Call a registered plumber to investigate.