Select your city to see what's in your water and what filter — if any — makes sense for your home.
Popular suburbs — tap to look up
About Perth's water: Supply comes from desalination (36%), surface water from dams (18.7%), groundwater (44.6%), and groundwater replenishment. Groundwater-heavy areas like Mirrabooka, Neerabup and Yanchep tend to have higher hardness and TDS. Desalination-dominant areas like Mandurah and Rockingham are softer. All Perth town water meets Australian Drinking Water Guidelines health standards.
Sydney has soft, chloramine-treated water from protected mountain catchments — among the best-tasting mains water of any Australian capital. The primary reason to filter is chloramine taste, not hardness or scale.
A carbon block filter is all most Sydney households need. Critical: specify a cartridge rated for chloramine removal, not just chlorine. A whole-home TAC system is unnecessary — Sydney water is too soft to form scale. NSF 42 is the relevant certification.
Melbourne has the softest mains water of any Australian capital, from protected forested catchments in the Yarra Ranges. Limescale is not a concern for any metropolitan suburb. Yarra Valley Water won the 2024 national best-tasting tap water award.
Melbourne has the least filtration need of any Australian capital. A benchtop or under-sink carbon block is all you need — and even that is optional. Do not install a TAC or softener — there is no hardness to treat. Any supplier recommending hardness treatment in Melbourne is overselling. NSF 42 if you do filter.
Adelaide has Australia's most challenging mains water for homeowners — 40–90% of supply from the River Murray. High chlorine, moderate-to-hard hardness, and variable Murray salinity make Adelaide the eastern city most similar to Perth in filtration need.
Adelaide is the eastern city where whole-home filtration makes the clearest case. Carbon block for chlorine, TAC in northern suburbs above 100 mg/L, and under-sink RO for drinking water delivers the most significant taste improvement. TAC vs salt comparison applies directly here. NSF 42 and 53 are the relevant certifications.
Brisbane has moderate hardness from a mixed southeast Queensland catchment supply treated with chloramine. Harder than Sydney or Melbourne but softer than Perth or Adelaide's northern suburbs. Outer suburbs typically have harder water than the inner city.
Brisbane sits between Sydney's minimal needs and Adelaide's more pressing case. A carbon block filter — rated for chloramine removal — is the first priority. TAC for scale prevention is worth considering in outer suburbs. Ask suppliers for suburb-specific data rather than city-wide averages. Filter types explained covers chloramine-rated carbon in detail.