Water quality
Our focus on water quality
Canberra is the largest urban area in the Murray-Darling Basin. Water quality is important for humans, plants, and animals. In Canberra, water makes its way into lakes and rivers, usually untreated. From there, it flows downstream into the Murrumbidgee River system. Our waterways help many types of plants and animals. Including many threatened species that are only found in Australia.
Improving stormwater quality
Our water isn’t always as clean as it could be. It can change quickly, especially after heavy rain. Lakes close because harmful bacteria and blue-green algae grow. One cause of this problem is contaminated stormwater. One way to make stormwater cleaner is by building wetlands.
Wetlands slow down the water so the tiny particles in the water, can sink to the bottom. Wetlands attract animals that eat other harmful organisms and give time for sunlight to have a sterilising effect.
The plants and sediment in wetlands trap chemicals like phosphorus and nitrogen before the water goes back out to the rivers.
What we can all do
We can all help to improve water quality before it enters our waterways.
ACT’s water smart design
We use water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) in all neighbourhoods in the ACT. WSUD helps stop water from running into the drains quickly and removes harmful materials from rainwater. It slows water down, giving time for it to be cleaned.
The ACT Healthy Waterways Project has designed 20 more places to clean water in the ACT.
How you can help
Improving water quality starts at home, to start you can find more information on the home and garden page.
Find more ideas to improve water quality in our Healthy Waterways Program.