A report to the council showed 43 properties complained between January and March 2019.

The council is now searching its records for any other complaints made over the counter, by telephone or letter, as examples.

READ ALSO:

It has allocated $5000 for the rebates; however, the maximum rebate is equivalent to 15 kilolitres of water, which is about $42, acting general manager Chris Berry said.

The decision was made at the council's ordinary meeting on July 24 under an alternative motion proposed by councillor Jasmin Jones. Councillors were due to vote on a recommendation that offered no rebate.

Cr Jones' motion was accepted in a four to three vote by Crs Abbey, Jones, Reid and Turner. Against the motion were Crs Burgess, Furry and Harker.

The 'Fix Yass Water Group', run by residents, submitted a petition to the council in May calling for water rates to be reduced and rebates for repairs to appliances and damaged clothing.

However, a report to councillors said the petition's requests could have a financial loss of $616,000 and impact long-term projects to fix Yass water.

Cr Jones agreed that any rebate should not impact long-term projects and said the $5000 wouldn't.

"The water quality in terms of aesthetics was really poor," Cr Jones said. "And what was our advice to the community [at the time]? Ring council so we can flush the mains and flush their taps. So, we asked them to use more water they buy from us."

"I think we need to acknowledge the quality issue and this is within our financial constraint," she said.

But Cr Furry said he didn't think it was fair that only those who complained would be eligible.

"The majority of the community experienced that water quality," Cr Furry said.