Water filtration in Neutral Bay
Neutral Bay's taps run Sydney Water mains, which comply with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, so filtration in this suburb is a matter of taste and preference. The common complaint in the older blocks is consistency: water that has sat overnight in shared risers tastes stale, and work on a building's pipes can send a brief rusty tinge to the kitchen tap. Some residents want the chloramine note gone, others want fluoride reduced, which only reverse osmosis does. With about eight in ten homes in apartments sharing a meter, under-sink systems do most of the work in this suburb. The houses on Shellcove Road and around Laycock and Bydown Streets, with their own meters, can add a whole-house unit as well.
A filter joins the mains, which makes installing it plumbing work; NSW licenses that work regardless of value, so only licensed plumbers are matched here, each licence having been verified by us on the public register. Only WaterMark-certified components are used, fitted the way AS/NZS 3500 says. In a unit the plumber works inside your kitchen cabinet, measuring around the waste trap and dishwasher hose before choosing between a twin-cartridge carbon system and a compact reverse osmosis unit with its own tap. Upper floors in mid-rise blocks can be short on pressure, which slows reverse osmosis, so the plumber may test the tap first. If the connection involves a shared valve or riser, the strata manager's position is confirmed before work starts.
Mention unit or house, what the water does that you would rather it did not, and whether one tap or all of them should be treated. Vetted licensed plumbers already fitting filters around Neutral Bay take it up, generally asking for a photo of the cabinet before sending a written quote covering the product, its certification and when cartridges are due. Homeowners are charged nothing and may decline every quote. Renters can have a system fitted with the owner's permission and removed cleanly later, and plumbers in the network will cap lines and refit the original tap on request.
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Frequently asked questions
Work on a block's pipes stirs up sediment that has settled in old risers, and it clears after running the tap. An under-sink filter catches fine sediment at the kitchen, and the strata manager should know if it keeps happening, because that points to the building's plumbing rather than the supply.
With the owner's permission, yes. A licensed plumber can install a system that disconnects cleanly when you leave, and the landlord may want to check with the strata manager. Ask for the removal to be planned at installation so the original tap can go back.
Carbon is smaller, simpler and leaves fluoride in place. Reverse osmosis reduces fluoride and many dissolved substances but needs more cabinet space, a drain line and adequate pressure, which upper floors in older blocks sometimes lack. The plumber will measure and test before recommending either.
An under-sink unit inside the kitchen rarely raises any planning question. A whole-house housing fixed to an external wall visible from the street might, so the plumber will place it out of view where possible, and it is worth checking with North Sydney Council if there is any doubt.
