Tap water turns brown but families are told it’s fine to drink

Families have been left disgusted by the brown water coming out of their taps – which the authorities say is fine to drink.

People in Moama, in southern New South Wales, have been told the discolored water won’t return to normal for weeks.

Some have been forced to drink bottled water, but that doesn’t solve all their problems.

“We haven’t been drinking it either, but when the water looks like this in the bathroom, we don’t really want to wash in it either,” Beck Angel, from Moama, wrote on Facebook.

Sarah Dixon told 7News that she was taking her baby to her parents’ house to wash as she did not want to bathe her 13-week-old child in the brown liquid.

“It literally looked like straight river water,” she said.

“Being a nurse I know what little parasites can lurk in the water so I was not risking the chance.”

Murray River Council said floodwater from rivers was affecting the filtered water supply.

“While the filtered water is discolored, it is not harmful and the filtered water quality is within the requirements of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines,” a council spokesperson told the ABC.

“Due to the discoloration, the following may occur; toilet u-bends may look a little murky, bath water may look dirty, white sheets and clothes may not stay white when washed.”