Residents across Sydney’s south-west are complaining of a strong chlorine smell emanating from their tap water, with some linking it to skin rashes and illness.
Sydney Water insists the supply is safe, but their explanations haven’t convinced frustrated customers in suburbs including Spring Farm, Mount Annan, Oran Park, Gregory Hills, Grasmere and Cobbity.
Spring Farm resident Megan Hockey said the problem was impossible to ignore.
“I had a bath on Friday night and got out of it, and it honestly was like I’d got out of a pool. Like, I just stunk and my skin had blown up,” Hockey said.
“I’d also post on our local community Facebook page, and a number of people had felt the same and experienced the same, and people were feeling ill and buying bottled water instead of drinking water.”
Sydney Water’s explanation to Hockey was far from crystal clear. Over the phone, they told her the issue was because she had a bath at peak hour - 10.30pm on a Friday night.
But in a letter to Hockey, it was blamed on a change to the disinfectant to ensure safety. A swap from monochloramine to free chlorine, which “can produce a more noticeable taste and odour”.
Sydney Water’s Corinna Doolan told 7NEWS: “We changed the type of chlorine that we use, and chlorine is an essential part of making sure that our water is safe to drink.”
7NEWS sampled Hockey’s tap water and her refrigerated filtered water, with the filtered version tasting noticeably better.
Plumber Andrew David from About Plumbing Time said he noticed an influx of chlorine complaints in these suburbs years ago.
“A good full house filtration system starts off at about $3,500 installed, and then if they would like the reverse osmosis option put in, that’s an additional $2,000,” David says of the solution.
For affected residents, it’s more money down the drain on their water bills.