Concerns over water quality have been raised by residents in Canungra, with reports of black particles appearing in household tap water prompting investigations and further testing.
Resident Michaela Roberts said the issue became apparent after returning home and turning on the tap after being away overnight.
“I just looked at it and it was black. I was like, you’ve got to be kidding. What the hell is that?” she said.
“It had also overwhelmed the filter in our fridge even though it was a new filter and it wouldn’t come through the line.”
She said water pressure at the property had also dropped, requiring a plumber to attend, while Urban Utilities advised flushing the system through the home.
“They ran the water from front to back of the house and were telling us you’ve got to flush it through because it’s all through the house pipes,” she said.
Despite initial flushing, Mrs Roberts said sediment remained present in the water, resulting in them installing a whole-house filtration system at a cost in the thousands.
“It was only after making some rice and when I poured the water into the container, there were still black particles,” she said
“We just went in and bought the whole filtration system. I wasn’t mucking around – you just cannot trust our water quality at all.”
She said multiple households in her street had experienced similar issues.
“The neighbours across the road had a complete blockage of the town water intake,” she said.
“There’s another house that has a filtration system and they’ve just done a filter change, and it was all through the filter cartridge for them.”
Urban Utilities said providing safe drinking water remained its top priority and confirmed the supply in Canungra meets Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
“We have received two reports in the last month of customers in the area noticing particles in their tap water,” a spokesperson said.
“We have responded by carrying out additional flushing to the surrounding network and will continue ongoing monitoring alongside additional testing.”
Urban Utilities said temporary discolouration or small particles can occur when sediment within pipes becomes dislodged, and that flushing helps to clear the system.
Ms Roberts said she believed more residents may be affected than official reports suggest.
“It just makes me wonder how many of us are just drinking it and not realising,” she said.
Anyone concerned about their water supply is encouraged to contact Urban Utilities on 13 26 57 (8am – 5pm weekdays) or 13 23 64 for faults and emergencies (24/7).
