Recycled water monitoring
Recycled water available at your home is treated to a high standard to meet the Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling and can be used for many non-drinking purposes. We use ongoing water quality monitoring and assessment to ensure our recycled water consistently meets these guidelines.
Hunter Water also refers to other national guidance documents to help us manage our recycled water schemes. One of these is the PFAS(1) National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP).
Recycled water assessment
The updated NEMP (version 3.0), published in March 2025, provides guidance on the levels of PFAS that a person can be exposed to over the course of their life without experiencing adverse health effects. In response, Hunter Water engaged independent, technical experts to review the safe uses of our recycled water.
Based on the study findings, Hunter Water advises that domestic chickens should be treated the same as other pets and animals, and that our customers do not use recycled water for domestic chickens' drinking water. This helps to reduce the risk of contamination of the eggs. This further clarification is the only change to our previous guidance on safe recycled water use.
(1) PFAS are a group of manufactured chemicals that have been used since the 1940s to make products that resist heat, stains, grease, and water. Because they break down very slowly, PFAS can build up in the environment, and in people and animals over time. This has led to growing concerns in Australia and around the world. According to the NSW Health Expert Advisory Panel, the health effects of PFAS appear to be small. Hunter Water supports taking precautionary steps to limit exposure, including through the careful management of recycled water.