Managing drinking water quality

We are committed to providing clean and safe drinking water to our customers. To find out more about our commitment, please see Drinking Water Quality Policy Statement(PDF, 593KB).

Drinking water quality monitoring

To ensure the drinking water supplied to the community is safe to drink, we verify that the drinking water supply meets the requirements of the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008 and the Public Health Regulation 2018. We assure the quality of the drinking water through our Drinking Water Quality Verification Monitoring Program (VMP).

The VMP is a comprehensive program designed to maximise visibility of drinking water quality as it travels through the drinking water mains that service our community. The VMP alerts us to changes which may impact the drinking water, allowing us to manage the quality of the product we supply to our customers. The VMP provides us confidence in the product we deliver.

Council undertakes extensive monitoring of the drinking water supply to confirm it is safe. Every year, we conduct over 60,000 tests which includes tests for a variety of microbiological, chemical and physical parameters.

Our monitoring program:

  • is developed in accordance with the requirements of the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008 and the Public Health Regulation 2018
  • is approved by the Queensland Water Supply Regulator
  • takes into consideration the guidance provided in the current version of the  Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2011
  • is approved and regularly audited by the Queensland Water Supply Regulator

We will notify the Queensland Water Supply Regulator of any drinking water health breaches. If this does happen, we work closely with the Regulator and Queensland Health to ensure the water supply is safe. If we have any concerns about the water supply, we will keep the community up to date. We will issue a public notice if residents ever need to boil their water for safety.

For more information on how we monitor drinking water quality and requirements of the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008 (Qld), Public Health Regulation 2018 and the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines please read our Drinking Water Service Annual Reports.

Sample taps

Drinking water quality sample taps are strategically placed throughout the drinking water distribution system. These sample taps are specifically for monitoring water quality.

You may notice Samplers flushing sample taps before taking their samples. The flushing draws fresh water from the main into the sample tap.

This step is necessary to make sure the water tested represents the same water supplied to customers.

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