Sydney doesn’t have hard water. Sydney Water puts Greater Sydney’s drinking water at about 57 mg/L of calcium carbonate. Anything under 60 mg/L is soft. So Sydney water hardness sits inside the soft band. Hard water in Sydney isn’t a real household problem, in any suburb.
This page gives the Sydney numbers and names the source behind each one. It shows how to check your own address. Then it covers chlorine. That part of Sydney water still reaches your skin every day.
Important: This article is general information. A shower filter is not a medical treatment for eczema or any skin condition. If you have a diagnosed skin condition, consult a dermatologist.
Is Sydney water hard or soft?
Sydney water is soft. Sydney Water reports about 57 mg/L as calcium carbonate for Greater Sydney. Its own rule is simple. Under 60 mg/L is soft. The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines agree with that line. No Sydney delivery system crosses it.
Sydney Water sets the test out in one sentence. Water hardness depends on how many milligrams per litre of calcium carbonate the water carries. Under 60 mg/L is soft. Over 60 mg/L is hard.
The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines use wider bands. Under 60 mg/L is soft. 60 to 200 mg/L is good quality. 200 to 500 mg/L brings more scaling. Over 500 mg/L is severe scaling. The 200 mg/L figure is an aesthetic guideline, not a health limit.
We sell shower filters, so let us be blunt. A Sydney home has no hardness problem to fix. Nobody in Sydney needs a water softener for the water Sydney Water delivers.
How hard is Sydney water, system by system?
Sydney Water runs 13 water delivery systems. Across them, hardness runs from about 30 mg/L to about 58 mg/L. The Nepean system is the softest. The Orchard Hills system is the hardest. It serves Penrith and St Marys. Every one of them is soft.
| Delivery system | Areas it covers | Hardness (mg/L as calcium carbonate) | ADWG band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nepean | Camden, Oran Park | about 30 | Soft |
| Illawarra | Wollongong | about 33 | Soft |
| Macarthur | Campbelltown | about 35 | Soft |
| Ryde | Sydney CBD, Manly | about 49 | Soft |
| Orchard Hills | Penrith, St Marys | about 58 | Soft |
| Greater Sydney, all systems | whole supply area | about 57 (Sydney Water) | Soft |
The 57 mg/L figure is Sydney Water’s own, from its water analysis page. The system-by-system figures come from WaterScore. It compiles Sydney Water’s quarterly drinking water quality reports. We checked them on 24 Sep 2026. Sydney Water publishes those reports per delivery system. It doesn’t publish one suburb hardness table.
The gap between the softest and hardest system is under 30 mg/L. In Perth the gap between Dwellingup and Two Rocks is about 200 mg/L. That is the useful comparison.
Why is Sydney water so soft?
Sydney collects most of its drinking water from river catchments, not from bores. Sydney Water says rain catchments give 85% of the supply. Warragamba Dam alone gives about 80%. The catchment rock is quartz sandstone. Quartz barely dissolves in water, so very little calcium gets in.
Water gets hard by dissolving rock. Limestone and chalk give up calcium easily. Groundwater sits in contact with rock for years, so bore supplies usually run harder.
Sydney’s supply does neither. Sydney Water’s water sources page says river catchments contribute 85% of Greater Sydney’s drinking water. Warragamba Dam supplies about 80% on its own. The Kurnell desalination plant can cover up to 15%.
The Australian Museum describes the Sydney Basin rock as quartz-rich sandstone with shale bands through it. Quartz is close to insoluble. Rain runs off it and into the storages carrying almost no calcium or magnesium.
Perth is the opposite case. It draws 30 to 40% of its supply from groundwater (Water Corporation, May 2024). That water has had years of contact with rock.
How do you check your suburb’s water hardness?
Use Sydney Water’s water analysis tool. You type your address and it shows results for your area. Sydney Water tests about 70 characteristics, and hardness is one of them. Your bill names the same supplier. For a rough home check, a hardness test kit also works.
Three steps, in order.
- Start with the supplier. Sydney Water’s water analysis tool takes your address and returns the analysis for your area. Ask for the figure as mg/L as calcium carbonate. That lines up with the ADWG bands.
- Find your delivery system. Sydney Water runs 13 water delivery systems and 9 drinking water filtration plants. The systems interconnect, so your supply can change plant during network work.
- Test at home if you want a second number. A strip test gives you a band in a minute. Our guide shows how to test for hard water at home, kit or no kit.
Moving from another state? The numbers change a lot. Our guide to water hardness by postcode in Australia names the lookup tool for each supplier.
Sydney water is soft, so why does my skin feel dry?
Chlorine is the usual answer. Sydney Water adds chlorine to keep the water safe to the tap. In longer pipelines it adds ammonia too. Hot water and steam make chlorine easy to smell. Some people notice tight skin or rough hair after a long hot shower.
Sydney Water adds small amounts of chlorine to protect the water from harmful pathogens. It also adds ammonia in some longer pipelines. That holds the disinfection right up to your tap. Chlorine plus ammonia makes chloramine.
A hot shower is a small closed room full of steam. You smell chlorine there in a way you never do from a cold glass. A soft water supply doesn’t change that at all.
A shower filter sits between the shower arm and the showerhead. Our multi-stage chlorine shower filter reduces chlorine, heavy metals and sediment. It also reduces calcium and magnesium, though Sydney gives it little of either. We make no chloramine claim, because we hold no test for it.
What can a shower filter do in Sydney, and what can’t it?
A shower filter reduces chlorine, heavy metals and sediment in your shower water. It also reduces calcium and magnesium. That matters little at 57 mg/L. It can’t remove chlorine completely. It won’t treat a skin condition. It won’t fix low water pressure either.
What it does in a Sydney bathroom:
- Reduces chlorine, which is the one shower water issue Sydney actually has.
- Reduces heavy metals and sediment, which can come from old pipework inside the house.
- May help limit limescale on the showerhead and fittings. Soft water leaves little of it anyway.
What it doesn’t do:
- It doesn’t soften your water. Sydney water is already soft.
- It doesn’t fix a hardness problem, because you don’t have one.
- It doesn’t replace a dermatologist. Results differ from person to person.
The media do the work, layer by layer. If you want the mechanism, read do shower filters work. Our guide covers it media by media.
How does Sydney compare with Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne?
Sydney sits near the soft end, with Melbourne. Melbourne runs near 18 mg/L. Sydney runs near 57 mg/L. Perth and Adelaide both sit near 96 to 97 mg/L. Two Rocks, north of Perth, averages 228 mg/L in Water Corporation’s own tables. Sydney has nothing close to that.
The Perth and Adelaide city figures are WaterScore’s, from Water Corporation and SA Water data. The Melbourne metro figure is WaterScore’s compilation of the Melbourne retailers’ data.
Our Perth guide, is perth water hard or soft, uses Water Corporation’s 2024-25 tables. Our Adelaide guide, does adelaide have hard water, works from SA Water figures. Melbourne is the other soft city, and our guide covers soft water in Melbourne suburb by suburb.
A Sydney family moving to Perth’s northern suburbs gets a real shock. Kettles scale up. Soap stops lathering. That is the difference between 57 and 228 mg/L.
Do you need a shower filter in Sydney?
Not for hardness. At about 57 mg/L there is no scale problem to fix in a Sydney home. Chlorine is the only honest reason a Sydney reader buys a shower filter. If your skin feels tight after every shower, that is the thing worth testing.
Here is the plain split for Sydney.
- You want less chlorine smell and less chlorine on your skin: a shower filter does that job.
- You see white crust on the showerhead: check the fitting and the flow first. At 57 mg/L, heavy scale is unusual.
- You want soft water: you already have it. Buy nothing.
- You have a diagnosed skin condition: see a dermatologist first, and treat a filter as a comfort measure only.
We’d rather sell you nothing than sell you a fix for a problem you don’t have. Sydney water is soft, and we say so on the page that ranks for it.
Chlorine still reaches your skin every shower, and that part is worth acting on. Our shower head filter in Australia fits standard 1/2-inch shower arms and goes on without tools.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sydney tap water hard or soft?
Sydney tap water is soft. Sydney Water gives Greater Sydney a figure of about 57 mg/L as calcium carbonate. Its own cut-off for soft water is 60 mg/L. The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines use the same line. Every Sydney delivery system sits under it.
Which Sydney suburbs have the hardest water?
Penrith and St Marys sit at the top, on the Orchard Hills system, near 58 mg/L. Sydney CBD and Manly follow near 49 mg/L. Camden and Oran Park are the softest, near 30 mg/L. Even the hardest of them stays inside the soft band.
Does Sydney water cause limescale?
Rarely. Limescale needs calcium and magnesium, and Sydney water carries very little of either. At about 57 mg/L your kettle and showerhead stay clear for a long time. White marks in a Sydney bathroom usually come from soap and spray, not from scale.
Is there chlorine in Sydney shower water?
Yes. Sydney Water adds small amounts of chlorine to protect the water from pathogens. In some longer pipelines it adds ammonia as well, which makes chloramine. You notice chlorine most in a hot, closed shower. Steam carries the smell, and the water meets your skin for minutes.
Last reviewed September 2026 by Lena Hartman
Disclaimer: This page is general information about water quality. A shower filter is not a medical treatment for eczema or any skin condition. If you have a diagnosed skin condition, consult a dermatologist.