Families are disgusted by the brown water flowing from their taps – which authorities say is safe to drink.
Residents of Moama in southern New South Wales have been told the discolored water will not return to normal for several weeks.
Some have had to drink bottled water, but that doesn’t solve all their problems.
“We haven’t drunk it either, but if the water in the bathtub looks like this, we don’t want to bathe in it either,” Beck Angel of Moama wrote on Facebook.
Sarah Dixon told 7News that she was taking her 13-week-old baby to her parents’ house to wash it because she didn’t want to dunk it in the brown liquid.
“It was literally like straight river water,” he said.
“Being a nurse, I know what little parasites lurk in the water, so I didn’t take a chance.â€
The Murray River Council said floodwaters from the rivers were affecting the filtered water supply.
“Although the filtered water is discoloured, it is not harmful and the quality of the filtered water meets the requirements of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines,” a council spokesman told the ABC.
“Due to the change in color, the following may occur; toilet bowls may look a bit dull, bath water may look dirty, white sheets and clothes may not stay white when washed.”