Possible water quality issues

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Possible water quality issues

quickymart

8772 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#281485 20-Feb-2021 22:08

I've recently moved address to an apartment in a body corporate situation. No issues there, but I think there's an issue with the quality of the water.

Since moving here I've noticed I get the occasional sore stomach after drinking too much water (so does one of my boys) and my hot drinks taste weird - something which never happened at my last place. Refrigerating the water overnight doesn't seem to make any difference.

They also mentioned something about the water maybe being "hard" at this address - whatever that means. Of note is that the tap in bathroom always has a pinkish surface around the drain, not sure if this is related or not. The last place had this as well, but it took ages for it to happen.

However before I run out and buy one of those water filters, should I get the water tested first? Do I need to run this past my landlord, the body corporate or the council to do this, or should I just buy one of those units and hope for the best?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Affiliate link

Affiliate link: NordVPN allows you to securely access the Internet, encrypt your connection and keep your browsing history private.

Scott3

2781 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2660272 20-Feb-2021 22:30

Sounds like you should order a test for peace of mind. Water testing is pritty widely available, although it is targeted people not on town supply.

https://www.hill-laboratories.com/analytical-testing/water-testing/drinking-water/

https://www.eurofins.co.nz/environment-testing/laboratory-services/drinking-water-testing/

No need to run this past anybody first, but you will need to pay for it.

That said, if you are on town supply, it is pritty unlikly there is a water quality issue. Town supply water is tested regularly, and it is pretty hard for the likes of an apartment building to mess up the water en route to your kitchen tap.

Water hardness is to do with mineral content. Can get a kit to test this yourself. Coffee machine can be fussy about hard water.

A lot of town supply water does taste weird to people who are not used to it. We have a drinking water filter for this reason.

No need to have a on the tap style water filter approved by your landlord. Just don't loose any bits you remove so you can restore the tap when you move out.

At a past rental we had an under bench water filter installed. Got landlord approval for this (as it needs a hole drilled in the benchtop), on the basis we paid for it, had a professional do the install, and would leave the system behind at the end of the tenancy.

quickymart

8772 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2660363 20-Feb-2021 23:25

As far as I know, it's on the town supply (billed by Watercare, I believe). I would have thought that testing it would be relatively cheap/easy - but if I'm going to spend money, I may as well just buy one of those filters and try it out. The Warehouse do have a money back guarantee, so if it doesn't work I can always take it back.

richms

25162 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#2660369 21-Feb-2021 03:42

quickymart:

As far as I know, it's on the town supply (billed by Watercare, I believe). I would have thought that testing it would be relatively cheap/easy - but if I'm going to spend money, I may as well just buy one of those filters and try it out. The Warehouse do have a money back guarantee, so if it doesn't work I can always take it back.

Lol at the idea of taking back a used water filter....

Richard rich.ms

quickymart

8772 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2660374 21-Feb-2021 07:19

They offer a returns policy on all their products.

Handle9

7610 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2660380 21-Feb-2021 07:56

Do you take back used toilet paper as well?

quickymart

8772 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2660381 21-Feb-2021 08:00

Um no? Sorry I'm not getting the correlation here.

Okay if they don't do returns on it, they don't. I'm not going to cry myself to sleep over it, so you can rest easy.

quickymart

8772 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2660385 21-Feb-2021 08:22

Ordered, now we wait.

Hopefully this fixes my weird water issue. Thanks @Scott3 for the helpful suggestions.

Jase2985

11558 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2660400 21-Feb-2021 10:15

so instead of trying to work out the cause, if there is one, you are going to band aid it?

get the water test done then you know.

the hardness you you water will likely be no different to anywhere else in auckland as its all coming from the same places.

mrdrifter

469 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#2660417 21-Feb-2021 10:50

It could be as simple as the type of plumbing pipe used in the apartment block or how the pipe network is laid out.

When we moved a few doors up the street and from the bottom of the hill to near the top, our water taste changed.

A filter may help, or not depending on the root cause.

quickymart

8772 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2660419 21-Feb-2021 10:55

Well the thing is, even if I do a test and it turns out it's something with the piping (for example) it's out of my hands. But then do I need to convince the landlord or the body corporate to investigate further?
That's the bit I'm not 100% sure on - and what I was hoping someone on here might know, not useless and unhelpful comments about used toilet paper, which were crap.

Having said that, I'll try the landlord as well and see what happens.

Scott3

2781 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2660420 21-Feb-2021 10:57

Watercare has a pritty good reputation when it comes to the quality of water delivered, but it is chlorinated so has the associated smell and taste.

As I said, pritty hard to mess up that up with a piping system. (would have to have the plumber do something stupid like use lead piping, or have an unusual design feature like a water-tower that allows contamination like a dead bird to get in). Biggest risk in my eyes with these types of systems is poor backflow management. An example would be of an upper floor apartment had a hose attached to their tap (and the end submerged in a sink or bath). Without proper backflow management, in the even pressure to the building was cut, the sink could be siphoned out into the piping system. But of course, very rare that pressure would be cut in Auckland. And unlike an industrial environment, very unlikely that somebody has a pump or pressure vessel that can backfeed.

I have only ever done industrial and transmission pipeline design, and never residential, so there could be an error in the above.

Watercare water does vary by suburb, but when I tested the hardness of mine for a coffee machine it came out off the scale soft.

In my mind there is a good chance the sickness is unrelated to the water.

Note that that filter will just improve the taste, and not do anything of note with regards to safety of the water.

Scott3

2781 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2660421 21-Feb-2021 11:04

quickymart:

Well the thing is, even if I do a test and it turns out it's something with the piping (for example) it's out of my hands. But then do I need to convince the landlord or the body corporate to investigate further?
That's the bit I'm not 100% sure on - and what I was hoping someone on here might know, not useless and unhelpful comments about used toilet paper, which were crap.`

Having said that, I'll try the landlord as well and see what happens.

If you had a test done, and the water failed drinking water standards (unlikely), this would be a really big deal. Landlord, body corporate, watercare etc would be very keen to identify and resolve the issue with haste. Media would likely be quite interested too (see the recent media coverage of the town with excess lead in it's drinking water).

Regarding the warehouse returns policy, it requires the good's to be returned in a resalable condition, something that would be hard to achieve with a product containing a consumable (in this case a filter cartrage).

https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/fsd-content-assets/delivery-returns.html

Bung

4549 posts

Uber Geek

#2660422 21-Feb-2021 11:14

You would have to show that the filter wasn't doing something it claimed to do ie was faulty. Warehouse's change of mind only applies to unused goods.
"If you changed your mind about a purchase, not a problem.
The Warehouse has a 60-day change of mind Money Back Guarantee with proof of purchase. It's this policy that provides you peace of mind while shopping at The Warehouse.

For a product to be returned under our Money Back Guarantee Policy, the product must be in re-saleable condition. i.e. un-used and in its original packaging (if packaged)."

Have you spoken to any of your new neighbours about it. There may be a tea or coffee fanatic that has already sussed it out.

quickymart

8772 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2660434 21-Feb-2021 11:37

Both good ideas, I didn't realise about the change policy for the Warehouse. I'll hang onto the filter in that case but will hit up my neighbours and see what they say.

Thanks both of you :)

BlinkyBill

1443 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2660446 21-Feb-2021 12:13

FWIW Auckland’s water quality manager was interviewed on RNZ this week. She said Watercare does 300 water quality tests per day - yes, per day - and she was super-confident Auckland’s water meets all standards, consistently.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4