There are a variety of treatment systems that can remove contaminants in drinking water. However, not all treatment systems are able to remove both microbiological and chemical contaminants and a combination of different treatment systems may be required.
The suitable treatment system required can be determined from the source water quality.
Further information available on the following treatment methods:
Before purchasing a treatment system obtain the following information from the manufacturer/distributor:
- Product specifications – including contaminants which it can remove
- Product certifications
- Maintenance requirements and costs
- Operating costs
Emergency treatment of drinking water
In emergency or disaster situations where there are no alternative sources of drinking water available, refer to the Emergency Treatment of Drinking Water Supplies webpage (HealthyWA).
Treatment chemicals and substances in contact with drinking water
Treatment chemicals and materials which come in contact with drinking water are required to be certified for use in drinking water applications in Western Australia. For further information, refer to: Materials and Substances in Contact with Drinking Water (PDF 828KB).
More information on the WaterMark certification scheme, including a database of
products certified under that scheme, is available via the Australian Building Codes
Board (external site) website.
NB – Transition arrangements for plumbing products with a reduced level of
lead commenced in May 2023 – please refer to the Watermark website (external
site)
for more details.
For information on the Australian Standards relevant to drinking water holding tanks, refer to A Compilation of Australian Standards on Water Holding Tanks (PDF 308KB).
Drinking water suppliers that disinfect water with chlorine must ensure they have the necessary permits to purchase poisons for use in a business or industrial purpose, as required under the Medicines and Poisons Act 2014 (external site).
For further details, please refer to Application forms for Licences and Permits and the Industrial Poisons Permit application form under the “Application forms” dropdown list on that page.
More information is available from the Therapeutic Goods Administration Scheduling Basics (external site).
Details about Safety Data Sheets are available from Safe Work Australia (external site).
Operational Guidance Documents
- Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (external site), ADWG, National Health and Medical Research Council, ISBN 1864965118
- Good Practice Guide to the Operation of Drinking Water Supply Systems for the Management of Microbial Risk - Second Edition (external site), Water Research Australia Project 1117 January 2020, ISBN 978-1-921732-55-3
- Good practice guide to sanitary surveys and operational monitoring to support the assessment and management of drinking water catchments (external site), Water Research Australia Project 1109 January 2020
- Value of Operator Competency (external site), Water Research Australia Project 1111 Final report, October 2019, ISBN 978-1-921732-54-6
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Decentralised Water and Wastewater Treatment Knowledge Base Research Project 1077 (external site), Water Research Australia, 2016, ISBN 978-1-921732-37-9
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Optimum Control of Chloramine in Water Distribution Systems – Research Project 1032 (external site), Water Research Australia, 2013, ISBN 978-1-921732-10-2
- Protecting Drinking Water Quality from Extreme Weather Events (external site), Water Research Australia, 2016
- Hrudey S E, Hrudey E J, Common themes contributing to recent drinking water disease outbreaks in affluent nations (external site), Water Supply, 2019
- Hrudey S E, Hrudey E J, Ten Commandments For Safe Drinking Water (external site) Canadian Water Network 2020, and American Water and Wastewater Association, 2014
- National Health and Medical Research Council’s Community Water Planner (external site). This is a tool designed to assist small communities to develop drinking water management plans
- Canning, A., Ryan, G., et al, “National good practice operational guidelines for bushfire management for the Australian water industry” (external site), Water Services Association of Australia, 2020
- World Health Organization. (2016). Protecting surface water for health: identifying, assessing and managing drinking-water quality risks in surface-water catchments (external site). World Health Organization.
- World Health Organization. (2023). Water safety plan manual: step-by-step risk management for drinking-water suppliers, second edition (external site). World Health Organization.
- Guide to the measurement and use of Ct (external site), WIOA Occasional Publication August 2019
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There is also a wide range of useful technical publications available from the Water Industry Operators Association of Australia (WIOA) (external site).
Last reviewed: 18-09-2023
Produced by
Public Health