Pumped from the Yass River, the water requires heavy treatment with the chlorinated taste and cloudy colour in stark contrast to Canberra's own supply.

But a treatment plant failure over Christmas saw Yass residents pouring brown water from their taps, laced with dirt, for about three weeks as the local council assured residents it was safe to drink.

Meanwhile, a photo of Yass Valley Council mayor Rowena Abbey drinking bottled water when having lunch with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday sparked debate with locals.

A local car wash claims it's forced to change water filters every two to three months, a quick turnaround compared to a Tumut car wash, which changes filters every two years.

The Yass Valley Council said the taste of the water has always been an issue due to a system that was never designed to cope with the Yass River's high mineral content.

Residents are calling for the council to finally do something about the taste and quality of the water as the town continues to grow and will soon begin pumping water to Murrumbateman.

Local Anastasia Stephen said she has always refused to drink the town water.

"There's always been a problem with Yass water," Ms Stephenson said.

"My cat won't even drink it and me and my partner buy water from the supermarket."

Ms Stephenson said residents spend a fortune on water rates and still get poor quality water.

Whenever she cooks, Ms Stephenson uses a kettle to boil all the water from the taps, which is heavily scaled.

Just the other week she was pouring brown water from her taps and kept a bottle to show The Canberra Times.

On a community Facebook group, residents were sharing photos of yellow baths and bottles of dirty water.

Resident Rebecca Rattenbury recently bought a filter for her shower head and was able to test it on Wednesday when the water from her kitchen came out brown.

A photo showed the clear water from her shower head and the brown water from her kitchen tap.

"It's always been an issue," Ms Rattenbury said.

"We're paying for this water that we can't drink.  Even just showering in it: my hair is constantly dirty, my skin is horrible ... since I've been living out here."

She hoped the council would prioritise the upgrade to the Yass plant before a $14 million plan to pipe water to Murrumbateman.

Ms Rattenbury said council works had already fixed the water by Thursday morning.

A Yass Valley Council spokeswoman said the council had never denied the state of Yass water with high hardness and dissolved solids to blame for the taste and quality.

"Yass Water Treatment Plant was constructed in 1938 and last upgraded in 1990. It was not designed for the removal of these materials," the spokeswoman said.

The council said a failure at a treatment plant on Boxing Day, along with drought conditions, heavy rains at the time and the hot weather had also lead to the water turning brown.

"At no time was the water unsafe for consumption," the spokeswoman said.

The Yass Valley Council is still looking to acquire land for a $14 million pipeline from Yass to Murrumbateman, supplying the small border town with water.

Mayor Abbey previously said it would cost the council $11 million to fix the town's current treatment plant.

"...but we are competing for funding with rural and regional communities who don't even have water, so the money is hard to come by," she said.

Down the road from Ms Stephenson, Yass Car Wash employee Pete Chatwin said even with Yass' water running clear, they change filters every two to three months.

The changeover is in stark contrast to a car wash in Tumut owned by the same company, which only has to change filters every two years.

But over Christmas, Mr Chatwin had to change the filters even more regularly, posting a photo of a brown filter contaminated by the town's drinking water supply."

"We chew through filters at the moment, at least once a month," Mr Chatwin said.

Local cafe owner Aiden Jitts said within three weeks of opening up his cafe he was told the filters and seals on his coffee machines would need to be replaced.

Mr Jitts, owner of Cafe Vieux, said he now buys spring water from the supermarket and hasn't had problems since.

"Four dollars a container is the equivalent to the amount I'd be paying in filters every year," Mr Jitts said.

He said even at home he'd chewed through four washing machines in the last twelves years with deteriorated seals and pipes.

The council spokeswoman said Yass businesses relying on the town's water should factor in individual options for their equipment.

Local Janine Hardy said her mother once told her it was only those who moved to Yass who complained about the water's taste.

"My mum has just sort of said we've been putting up with that for years," Ms Hardy said.

But even Ms Hardy uses a filter for her home's drinking water.

"It's always been bad. I wonder what it does to my health," Ms Hardy said.