I now that sometimes we swallow water while we are swimming in our pools, but would you knowingly drink your swimming pool water or use it to make your tea or coffee?
Well, this is exactly what a resident in the outback town of Kambalda, 630km east of Perth, is asking of the Western Australia’s Water Corporation.
Chantele Horler and her husband have been worried about the quality of the drinking water in the town since they moved in 18 months ago, and now Chantele says that their drinking water has the same chlorine levels as her swimming pool.
Ms Horler says that the results of a pool water test she conducted on their tap water has reinforced her concerns. The test, available from most hardware stores, recorded the same levels of chlorine required in an average backyard pool.
“We’ve known for a long time that the water here has not been very good,” she said. “We were filling up our pool, just about to put chlorine in it, and we thought we would test the tap water first; it was perfect for the pool.”
Ms Horler says they buy bottled water to drink as they do not think that the tap water is safe to drink, and are also worried about bathing their baby in it.
“It doesn’t taste quite right,” she said. “Showering in it, our skin is really bad and it is a bit scary bathing our baby in that water, not knowing what is in it.”
Other community members agree that the tap water is not right:
“All I can smell is swimming pool when we shower,” Leah-Marie Lynham said.
“We had a whole house filter installed when we moved here,” Merasol Peter Daw said.
Ms Horler emailed the Water Corporation to complain about the water quality, but according to her their response was that they test the water every few months and it is fine to drink.
Water Corporation Goldfields and Agricultural regional manager Sharon Broad said in a statement the levels of chlorine in Kambalda’s drinking water were safe for consumption.
