Non-drinking Water Guide – Microbiological and Chemical

SA Water is committed to managing our water supplies to ensure the protection of your health. This guide will help you understand how to safely use your non‐drinking water supply. The following information relates to human health only.
SA Water wishes to remind you that your mains water supply is not treated or disinfected. Your water supply may contain harmful microorganisms and natural chemicals. This means it may not conform to the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and microbial and chemical quality may exceed guideline values.
SA Health advises that your water is not suitable for drinking, food preparation or teeth cleaning. Boiling the water will not reduce the chemical concentrations in your water supply.
What you need to know:
Do not use mains water for drinking, food preparation and cleaning teeth.
Do not connect your mains supply pipes to your drinking water source, e.g. rainwater tank.
Advise visitors to your home about the precautions required when using mains water.
Install and maintain signs specifying "WATER NOT SUITABLE FOR DRINKING" at all publicly accessible taps connected to mains water for which you are responsible. SA Water can provide signs or stickers upon request.
Landlords must provide a copy of this guide to their tenants.
Following these measures will also mitigate the health risks associated with the microorganism Naegleria fowleri, which may be present in your water supply:
Avoid swallowing water or allowing water to go up your nose e.g. when showering, bathing or through use of sinus irrigation products. Children should avoid swallowing water or getting water up their nose during bath time or water play activities including the use of garden hoses.
If mains water is used in children’s paddling pools, do not leave in pool for more than 24 hours.
If mains water is used in swimming pools, it should be properly disinfected with a product such as chlorine to limit the microbiological risks. Visit www.sawater.com.au to check requirements for permits under current Water Wise Measures.
The temperature of hot water system storages should be set at 60ºC or higher (applies to storage systems only, not instantaneous hot water systems). Care should be taken to avoid scalding.
We will continue to monitor water quality and can provide updated information about your mains water quality via our Customer Service Centre on 1300 650 950.

This notice typically relates to water supplies in non‐urban areas. If you think you have received this notification in error, please call our Customer Service Centre to confirm before incurring any additional costs associated with using your water service in the ways set out in this document.