On October 28, Brooke Morgan of Tathra posted a photo on the Bega District News Facebook page of a glass of water from her tap, where the brown tint to the liquid could be clearly seen.

She said her water turns brown three to four times a month. 

That post has since received about 330 “likes” and 15 shares, with many readers commenting they have the same problem. 

Council’s water and sewerage services manager Jim Collins said the main source of the discolouration was iron from the Bega River and corrosion of water main fittings.

“The issue is not a health concern, rather an aesthetic one,” he said.  

“There is no health based guideline value for iron in drinking water.

“The water is disinfected, safe to drink and of a high quality in terms of most indicators.”

On Friday, BVSC announced it was carrying out an extensive flushing program to reduce the occurrence of dirty water in the Bega and Tathra areas.

While particular areas are being targeted, this flushing can reduce the quality of water in other parts of system, which council said is the likely cause of the current widespread discolouration. 

On Monday, work began cleaning the larger trunk water mains supplying Bega and Tathra using “ice-pigging” – a process that aims to remove sediment using an ice slurry pumped through the water mains.

Council’s general manager Leanne Barnes approved $150,000 to Australia’s sole “ice pigging” provider Suez Pty Ltd to perform the job. 

At their meeting on Wednesday, councillors have a recommendation to approve an additional $135,000 to Suez to continue cleaning the water mains across a wider area. 

In the meeting’s agenda, BVSC staff stated the long-term solution for the problem would be a treatment plant at south Bega.