The taste and odour of tap water in households across Logan became earthy and muddy last week.
But authorities have assured residents the water is “completely safe to drink”, and merely a result of the recent hot, wet weather.
Seqwater said in a statement that Logan’s water meets the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, and should return to normal in the coming days.
“The change in taste and odour is due to an increase in naturally occurring organic compounds known as MIB (Methylisoborneol) in the raw water supply to Seqwater’s Mount Crosby Water Treatment Plant,” the statement read.
“These naturally occurring compounds are greater due to recent large rainfalls, and followed by very hot, weather conditions.
“We can assure residents the treated water supplied from Mount Crosby Water Treatment Plant remains safe to drink and use as normal.”
MIB compounds are filtered out through the water treatment process, however, sometimes they can temporarily affect the taste of the water.
It can also cause it to smell earthy, muddy or grassy.
“People who are particularly sensitive to taste may notice this and during this time we recommend cooling the water may help reduce any earthy taste in the tap water,” Seqwater said.
“Seqwater operations is working 24-7 to move large amounts of water around the SEQ Water Grid to help with the flow and improve the taste, we have also increased monitoring of the water catchment and throughout the treatment processes.”
Logan Water continues to work closely with Seqwater to keep customers updated.
Mayor Jon Raven in a social media post thanked residents who emailed through their experiences with the tap water changes.
“That information was very helpful to demonstrate to Seqwater that this was too serious to just wait for it to resolve on its own,” he said.
“While they maintain the water is safe to drink, they acknowledge that the flavour and odour changes are significant.
“In response to concerns raised by residents all over the region they have now increased the desalination plant output to full, and have lowered production from the Mt Crosby Water Treatment plant to dilute the water.
“This will mean you should notice a change in flavour and odour soon – however it may get worse as it gets better in some parts of the network as the the earthy tasting water is pushed through the network.”
