Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2025

For the purposes of section 9(1)(e) of the Act, a risk management plan must contain details of, or refer to, the following matters—

on and from 6 October 2025, the water agency's policy for managing drinking water quality, including—

a statement of the water agency's commitment to manage the quality of the water supplied by the water agency; and

how the water agency has endorsed that commitment; and

how the commitment is communicated to the water agency's employees;

for a risk management plan prepared by a water supplier, each water sampling area specified by the water supplier, including—

a clearly marked map of the boundaries of each water sampling area; and

all information reasonably available to the water supplier that assists to identify the boundaries of each water sampling area; and

for a new water sampling area or a water sampling area varied under regulation 12—

how the boundaries of that water sampling area have been determined; and

how the matters specified in regulation 11(3) or 12(2) (as the case requires) were considered in determining the boundaries of that water sampling area;

in relation to water quality risks for water supplied by the water agency, the positions held by persons employed or engaged by the water agency who are responsible for managing those risks;

procedures for consultation with other water agencies in relation to water quality risks for water supplied—

to the water agency by other water agencies; and

by the water agency to other water agencies;

emergency management arrangements for emergencies or incidents that have, or may have, an adverse effect on the quality or safety of water supplied by the water agency, including—

the positions held by persons employed or engaged by the water agency who are responsible for dealing with those emergencies or incidents; and

methods for communicating information to the public in relation to those emergencies or incidents;

for a risk management plan prepared by a water supplier, the water sampling program developed by the water supplier, including—

the matters specified in regulation 14(2); and

how the locations for collecting water samples have been determined; and

how the matters referred to in regulation 14(3), (4) and (5) were considered in developing the program;

for a risk management plan prepared by a water storage manager, the water sampling program developed by the water storage manager, including—

the matters specified in regulation 15(2); and

how the locations for collecting water samples have been determined;

in circumstances where the water agency adds chemicals to drinking water supplied by the water agency, procedures and systems for—

ensuring that the amount and purity of those chemicals do not adversely affect the quality of that drinking water or pose a risk to human health; and

controlling the addition of any residue or chemical by‑products to that drinking water;

the required competency and training of persons who are employed or engaged by the water agency, to the extent that the competency or training relates to the monitoring and management of water quality risks for water supplied by the water agency;

any policies, standards and guidelines adopted by the water agency in relation to the required competency and training described in paragraph (i);

the infrastructure of the system of supply and other features of that system that are designed to assist in the management of water quality risks for water supplied by the water agency, including the method for verifying the effectiveness of the infrastructure and other features;

on and from 6 October 2025, the process for inspecting and maintaining water storage, treatment and distribution assets to ensure the management of water quality risks for water supplied by the water agency;

measures taken to monitor and manage water quality risks for water supplied by the water agency, including any methods for verifying the effectiveness of those measures;

critical control points across the system of supply, including—

how those critical control points are identified and recorded; and

the water quality risks at each critical control point; and

the critical limits that apply at each critical control point; and

if a critical limit is reached at a critical control point—

any additional actions, procedures or processes that are to be applied to the water at the critical control point; and

any policies or guidelines that are to be implemented;

on and from 6 October 2025, the process for assessing emerging or potential water quality risks;

on and from 6 October 2025, an improvement plan that specifies how the water agency proposes to improve its management of the quality of the water supplied by the water agency;

on and from 6 October 2025, the processes for the short-term and long-term review of data to monitor water quality risks for water supplied by the water agency.

For the purposes of section 9(1)(e) of the Act, if a water agency operates and maintains a drinking water treatment process that is applied to untreated water, the water agency's risk management plan must contain, for the period from 7 July 2026 to 5 July 2027, details of the methodology that is used by the water agency to quantify microbial hazards in relation to that water, including—

the extent to which pathogenic microorganisms are present in water that enters the drinking water treatment process; and

the extent to which that drinking water treatment process—

removes those pathogenic microorganisms from the water; or

reduces the amount of those pathogenic microorganisms in the water.

For the purposes of section 9(1)(e) of the Act, if a water agency manages a source of untreated water that is to be treated and supplied as drinking water, the water agency's risk management plan must contain details of the following matters on and from 6 July 2027—

the process for determining a source water category for that source of untreated water in accordance with Section 5.4.3 of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines;

procedures for reviewing and revising the source water category for that source of untreated water.

For the purposes of section 9(1)(e) of the Act, if a water agency applies a drinking water treatment process to untreated water, the water agency's risk management plan must contain details of the following matters on and from 6 July 2027—

procedures for assessing the treatment required to be applied to the untreated water, based on its source water category, for that water to meet the microbial health outcome target;

procedures for designing and monitoring the drinking water treatment process to ensure that the water to which the process is applied meets the treatment targets for the source water category of that water;

procedures for recording the effectiveness of the drinking water treatment process in treating the water to meet—

the microbial health outcome target; and

the treatment targets for the source water category of that water;

if the water to which the drinking water treatment process is applied does not meet the targets referred to in paragraph (c), procedures for implementing improvements to ensure that the water meets those targets.

For the purposes of section 9(2) of the Act, the specified risks to be addressed are the following—

the risk to human health that arises from the presence in water of—

pathogenic microorganisms; and

inorganic chemicals, including inorganic disinfection by-products; and

organic chemicals, including pesticides, pesticide residues and organic disinfection by-products; and

radionuclides; and

algal toxins;

the risks arising from an incident that may cause the organisms or substances referred to in paragraph (a) to be introduced, whether by humans or the natural environment, into—

in the case of a water supplier, the water supplier's system of supply; or

in the case of a water storage manager, the water supplied by the water storage manager;

the risk of the organisms or substances referred to in paragraph (a) entering into water supplied by the water agency because of the transfer or distribution of that water;

on and from 6 January 2028, the risk to the taste, odour or clarity of water that arises from—

the presence in water of an algal metabolite, a chemical or any other substance; and

the pH or turbidity level of the water; and

the colour or temperature of the water; and

an incident that may cause an algal metabolite, a chemical or any other substance to be introduced, whether by humans or the natural environment, into—

in the case of a water supplier, the water supplier's system of supply; or

in the case of a water storage manager, the water supplied by the water storage manager; and

an algal metabolite, a chemical or any other substance entering into water supplied by the water agency because of the transfer or distribution of that water.

In this regulation—

a risk referred to in section 9(1)(b) of the Act; and

a risk that is specified for the purposes of section 9(2) of the Act.