Drinking Water

Even though you are surround 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!

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River Water

Some locals do drink the water directly from river in Kosciuszko National Park and between the Hume Dam and Albury. 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 to about Albury unless it is in flood. This makes it easy to treat the water without having to worry about a clarification step. Below Albury, I found I had to both clarify the water and then treat the water to make it safe. Below Albury and without clarification, I would only get maybe 1 L of water through my MSR Ceramic filter before I would have to clean it.

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 MDBA publish monthly updates of key rivers and WaterNSW has a real-time alert map and algal information line 1800 999 457 for known outbreaks. 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 simply ways to remove Cyanobacteria toxins and each species has specific treatment requirements.

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.

The locations are shown in the interactive map below:

Information Source
Myself in the summer of 2020/21 unless otherwise indicated:
¹ Towong District Council, 2021
² Berri Barmera Council, 2021
³ Loxton Waikerie District Council, 2021
⁴ Federation Council, 2021
⁵ Campaspe Shire Council, 2021
⁶ Swan Hill Rural City Council, 2021
⁷ Wentworth Shire Council, 2021
⁸ Additional sources Renmark Paringa Council, 2021