Information to help you check that your drinking and recycled water are using the correct taps.
Recycled water is ideal for watering the garden, doing the laundry, flushing toilets and washing the car, allowing you to save drinking water for drinking and bathing. If your property is connected to recycled water the information on this page will show you how to check that your drinking and recycled water are coming out of the correct taps.
How to check your recycled water connection
During the construction of your home, plumbers connected recycled water to your house using purple pipes. Initially, recycled water pipes were not purple so some homes may have different colours.
It is the owner/occupier’s responsibility to make sure all plumbing works and the supply is connected correctly. That’s why you must check the drinking and recycled water supplies yourself to make sure they have been correctly installed.
When to check the connection
A recycled water connection check should be done in the following situations:
prior to Greater Western Water advising you recycled water will be supplied through its recycled water system
following general plumbing works around the property.
The 5-Step check
You can ensure that recycled water is only supplied through your purple recycled water taps and toilets by taking the following five steps:
Turn off the drinking water supply to the property at the drinking water meter located at the front of your property. Your drinking water meter is a different colour, to the purple recycled meter. The recycled water supply should be kept on.
Slowly turn on all hot and cold laundry, sink, bath and shower taps one by one. Your connection should also include your sanitary spray (or bidet) and water/ice dispensers on your refrigerator (if you have one). All taps should run dry after a short period of time. If they continue to run, they could be connected to the recycled water supply.
After all taps have run dry, flush all toilets. Toilets should refill as normal as they should be connected to the recycled water supply.
Turn on all outside taps. The external drinking water tap should run dry. The purple water tap should continue to run.
To check appliances within the home, such as dishwashers, turn on the drinking water supply slowly so that air will be cleared from the pipes. Turn off the recycled water supply at the meter. Then turn on the internal appliances. If the appliances fill with water, they are correctly connected to the drinking water supply.
