Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2025

For the purposes of section 17(1) of the Act, the specified quality standards for drinking water are—

the health-based drinking water quality standards specified in subregulation (2); and

the aesthetic drinking water quality standard specified in subregulation (3); and

on and from 6 January 2028, the aesthetic drinking water quality standards specified in subregulation (4).

For the purposes of subregulation (1)(a), the specified health-based drinking water quality standards are the following—

the drinking water does not contain Escherichia coli;

if the drinking water contains a chemical or physical characteristic specified in Table 10.6 of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, the amount of the characteristic in the drinking water does not exceed the health guideline value (if any) that is specified opposite that characteristic in that Table;

if the drinking water contains a microbial, chemical or physical characteristic that is not referred to in paragraph (a) or (b), the amount of the characteristic in the drinking water is less than an amount that would pose a risk to human health, whether that risk arises from the characteristic by itself or in combination with other characteristics.

For the purposes of subregulation (1)(b), the specified aesthetic drinking water quality standard is that, in relation to all samples of the drinking water that are collected from a water sampling area during a period of 12 months and tested for turbidity levels, the 95th percentile of results for that period does not exceed 5 nephelometric turbidity units.

For the purposes of subregulation (1)(c), the specified aesthetic drinking water quality standards are the following—

in relation to all samples of the drinking water that are collected from a water sampling area during a period of 12 months and tested for pH levels, the average pH value of those samples is at least 6·5 but does not exceed 9·2;

in relation to all samples of the drinking water that are collected from a water sampling area during a period of 12 months and tested for dissolved oxygen levels, the average amount of dissolved oxygen in those samples is more than 85 per cent;

in relation to all samples of the drinking water that are collected from a water sampling area during a period of 12 months and tested for a chemical or physical characteristic specified in Column 2 of Schedule 2, the average amount of the characteristic in those samples does not exceed the aesthetic guideline value that is specified opposite that characteristic in Column 3 of that Schedule.

For the purposes of section 19(1) of the Act, the aesthetic drinking water quality standards specified in subregulations (3) and (4) are not primarily intended to protect public health and may be varied under that section.