Water sustains all.

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Even though you are surrounded by a billion litres of water, getting drinking water is not always as straightforward as one would expect. There are two main options, to use the river or town supplies. The former may not be safe in the hotter summer months due to blue-green algae outbreaks. If these get too bad, it may not even be safe to continue paddling on the river!

River Water

My current approach is to carry or filter drinking water and to cook with water from the river. This ensures clean tasting drinking water while minismising fuss / weight when cooking. In flood or during blue-green algae alerts, I switch to town water.

Some locals do drink the water directly from the river in Kosciuszko National Park and some do this all the way to the lakes. Having been sick after a water filter failed in Kosciuszko National Park, I would not recommend doing this!

The water tends to be fairly clear down to about Albury unless it is in flood. This makes it easy to treat the water without having to worry about a clarification step. However, high turbidity can occur anywhere along the river, amd may make it necessary to clarify the water before treating it to make it safe.

The high turbidity is created from sediment being flushed into rivers by erosion from floods or heavy localised rain, as well as following bushfires, or stirred up sediment by carp or powerboats.

Refer to the Safety page for some of the issues related to drinking untreated water.

Refer to the Water Treatment page for various options on how you can clarify and treat water.

Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria)

Blue-green algae is common in most freshwater systems, but some species are known to produce toxins that make the water unsafe to drink and even unsafe to touch in bad blooms. All of the major Australian rivers will have a risk and the Murray River is no exception. Blooms seem to be most common in the still waters between the Hume Dam and the SA border but they could occur anywhere along the river.

The national algal information line 1800 999 457 for known outbreaks by Water Quality Australia. The MDBA publishes monthly updates of key rivers and WaterNSW has a real-time alert map. Other states seem to delegate reporting to their local councils or provide alerts or signage when needed. None are overly useful for those traversing the entire river though as blooms are rare in SA having decent data from NSW should suffice.

In the event of an algae bloom, switch to town supply! There are no simple ways to remove Cyanobacteria toxins and each species has specific treatment requirements.

Salinity

In general, outside of prolonged droughts, the salinity levels will be OK. If you do notice the water tasting slightly salty, it could be an indicator that it's time to switch to town water. Recent history suggests no issues along the river except for dry years on Lake Alexandrina as seen from the chart below. It will be freshest at the top of the lake and saltier along the southern reaches, especially if there have been any recent King tides that can wash seawater over the barrages. Lake Albert is usually much saltier. Biggara average salinity is one of the best, but the unusual higher range of values is from the fact that the flow here can get fairly low in dry years. Water from Swampy Plain River ensures a far lower maximum below the confluence.

Salinity is usually measured by either total dissolved solids (TDS) or estimated by electrical conductivity (EC). The latter is the most commonly used measurement in Australia. While water contains a mix of different chemicals, the majority is usually salt.

The recommended maximum intake of sodium is 2,000 milligrams per day, which is equivalent to about 5 grams of salt (1 teaspoon). So if the water is just starting to taste salty (~1,000 mg/L or 1,500 μS/cm @ 25ºC), drinking about 5 L would provide your maximum recommended daily salt limit.

Other Factors

High volume flows from mostly alpine catchments minimise many of the other water quality issues. In periods of flooding, you often find high levels of carbon and low levels of oxygen in the water due to decaying organic matter. This by itself is not too much of a concern and the water will have a dark tea like colourisation. However, the low oxygen can cause fish deaths, and in that event, avoid the water completely because of the rotting fish.

Alpine Water Sources

There were few creeks with running water above the Murray, when I passed through the area in the summer of 2019/20 after a prolong dry spell. Starting from the Alpine Way parking spot, I have noted below all of the main primary water sources with distances that I found:

Thredbo River (2.2 km)

After following the river upstream the crossing represents the last water before Cascade Creek.

Cascade Creek (6.5 km)

Decent flow, also accessible from Cascade Hut

Tin Mine Creek (33.9 km)

Decent flow

Murray River (15.8 km)

Slight flow seen from the spring at Cowombat Flat just above the track crossing, it was dry upstream.

Pilot Creek

This had a larger flow than the Murray at Cowombat Flat, ~1.5 km downstream along the Murray.

I managed to also find a few seeps across the track at times, but these were barely flowing. I managed to collect maybe a cup of water every 5 minutes from these. I'm not proud to say it, but I even had to dig for water once when I was severely dehydrated. I got maybe a half cup of polluted looking water that was enough to get me down to the next water source.

Town Supplies

Here is a list of various public water points that are known on the river. This does not include camping grounds, private homes, businesses or shops that will be able to provide additional water points.

• Torrumbarry Weir (via lockmaster) and Boundary Bend have untreated rain water tanks.
• Lake Hume Village, Boundary Bend, Morgan, Blanchetown, and Tailem Bend have longer walks.
• I'd avoid filling via toilet sinks unless you are desparate.
• are used to denote locations of powerpoints seen along the way if you need a quick charge as you paddle by.

Town(s)	Water Source			Distance
Upper Murray (above Bringenbrong Bridge)
Thredbo		Toilets	In park beside skate ramp in Village Green off Friday Drive
Lower Murray (below Bringenbrong Bridge)
Towong		None1		14 km
Tintaldra		None1		30 km
Jingellic		None2		39 km
Lake Hume Village		Tap	There is a tap beside the Hume Dam Lookout, 375 m detour.	129 km From Bringenbrong 212 km
		Unknown	Apex Park (The Pines) beside a boat ramp may have something.
Albury, NSW / Wodonga, VIC		Fountain	Beside the Mitta Mitta Canoe Club, Albury	29 km From Bringenbrong 241 km
		Fountain	Beside picnic shelters, Albury
		Fountain	Near picnic shelters above the new pontoon, Albury
Howlong, NSW		Tap	Memorial Park	64 km
Corowa, NSW / Wahgunyah, VIC		Tap	Tap and powerpoints in shealter, Rowers Park, Corowa	45 km
		Tap	Tap beside a power pole. Boat ramp and toilets 2 km downstream, Lions Park, Corowa.
Bundalong, VIC		Tap	Tap beside BBQ shelther near boat ramp.	50 km
Yarrawonga, VIC / Mulwala, NSW		Fountain	Tap, Fountain and toilet in JW Purtle Reserve and Park. Foodworks nearby. Mulwala3	33 km
		Toilets	Tap and toilet in Apex Park. Mulwala3
		Toilets	Tap and toilet, The Owen Bridges Reserve and Boat Ramp. Mulwala3
		Toilets	Maybe potable? Beside the main bridge. Yarrawonga For those staying at the caravan park, there is a tap on the way down to the boat ramp.
Cobram, VIC / Barooga, NSW		Tap	Murray: beside picnic tables at beach downstream of the bridges, Cobram	68 km
		Tap	Bullanginya Lagoon: beside picnic shealters that have powerpoints, Barooga
Tocumwal, NSW		Tap	BBQ area over the levy near the pontoon / boat ramp	27 km
		Taps	Tap around the council run Town Beach Caravan Park4
Barmah, VIC		Fountain	Beside toilets that also have powerpoints	123 km
Echuca, VIC / Moama, NSW		Tap	Tree in the Aquatic Reserve beside the Info Centre, Echuca. Tap key may be required sometimes5.	49 km
		Fountain	Near the Thong Tree, back upstream slightly. Squeeze up through the moored houseboats, Echuca
Torrumbarry Weir		None. You can ask the lock master for some tank water.		82 km
Barham, VIC / Koondrook, NSW		Tap	Tap by and powerpoints in shealter, Koondrook	104 km From Echuca 186 km
		Fountain	Tap on fountain, with powerpoints in nearby pergola and near the pontoon, Barham.
Swan Hill, VIC		Tap	Outside BBQ shelter near the 10 Steps (has powerpoints) and another just before the bridge. Two of four in Riverside Park.	114 km
Nyah, VIC		Tap along fence		46 km
Wood Wood, VIC		None		14 km
Tooleybuc, NSW		Fountain	Fountain beside playground and sink in the cooking area that has powerpoints.	18 km From Nyah 32 km
Boundary Bend		Tap	Tank water behind toilets that have powerpoints in Memorial Park. It's a 500 m walk unless the river is high enough to paddle into Hopcroft Billabong.	92 km
Robinvale		Toilets	Beside the boat ramp before the camping ground. Seems potable?	89 km From Tooleybuc 181 km
		Tap	The Arts Centre across the road from the boat ramp has a tap.
Nangiloc		Unknown		142 km
Mildura, VIC / Buronga & Gol Gol, NSW		Fountain	James King Park, Gol Gol6	77 km From Robinvale 219 km
		Fountain	Fountain with tap on the waterfront; Splash park has another fountain; Another in shelter near toilets, Mildura. This area was being redeveloped in 2023/24. Locations may have changed.
Merbein, VIC		Unknown		15 km
Wentworth		Fountain	Tap beside toilets, powerpoints by most BBQ, Junction Park	37 km From Mildura 52 km
		Tap	Tricky tap under handbasin males toilets. Easiest access from boatramp 2 km up the Darling.
Lock 9		Unknown		61 km
Lock 8		Unknown		39 km
Lock 7		Unknown		29 km
Lock 6		Unknown		77 km
Renmark/Paringa		Fountain	Fountain beside the Info Centre, Renmark. Other sources can be found near the Town Fountain () and also near Arthur Shepherd Lions Park ( downstream by boat ramp)7	52 km From Wentworth 258 km
		Tap	CHECK: From memory, there was a tap beside the toilet, Bert Dix Park, Paringa.
Berri		Fountain	North side of the visitor information centre (Riverview Drive)	41 km
Loxton		Tap	At the four bay BBQ shelter, John Hamilton Memorial Lions Park	37 km
Moorook		Tap	Tap beside shed at waterfront downstream slightly of the boat ramp. Powerpoints in picnic shelters.	37 km
Kingston On the Murray		Unknown		16 km
Waikerie		Tap	Tap beside large multi-table shelter.	53 km From Moorook 69 km
Morgan		Toilets	Along road, just up past camping ground	63 km
Blanchetown		Tap	RV Dump by park off the river slightly. Below the lock. Track to tap.	45 km
Swan Reach		Tap	Tap behind toilets in ANZAC park.	28 km
Mannum		Fountain	Fountain beside toilets.	96 km
Murray Bridge		Fountain	Fountain. Powerpoints for houseboats moored bear the Bunyip are fairly show charging, maybe try the upstream powerpoints in the shelter at Thiele Reserve .	39 km
Tailem Bend		Tap	Beside Info Centre. Long walk from the pontoon (850 m). Water from toilets beside the ferry looked slightly stagnant in 2021	24 km
Wellington		None		13 km
Milang		Tap	Beside BBQ shelter. This is on the western shoreline of Lake Alexandrina. No clean water at Narrung on the eastern shoreline.
Goolwa		Tap	Fountain near the public toilet on Liverpool Rd	From Wellington: Direct 64 km Indirect: ~85 km
		Tap	Freestanding tap and a fountain by the toilets

The locations are shown in the interactive map below:

Town Supply Map

Information Sources
Locations found using various sources and confirmed personally between 2021 and 2023 unless otherwise indicated:
¹ Towong District Council, 2021
² Snowy Valleys Council, 2021
³ Federation Council, 2021
⁴ Berrigan Shire Council, 2021
⁵ Campaspe Shire Council, 2021
⁶ Wentworth Shire Council, 2021
⁷ Renmark Paringa Council, 2021

Example Supply Itinerary

On recent trips, I filled up with town water at the following stops: