Redland City Council’s commercial water business unit, City Water, has reported strong operational and environmental performance in 2024–2025, delivering reliable drinking water and wastewater services to more than 73,500 connected properties across the city.
The business supplied 14,380 megalitres (ML) of drinking water to customers and treated 14,392 ML of wastewater, maintaining 100 per cent compliance with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines for the third consecutive year.
This exceeded the 98 per cent target and was supported by a system reliability rate of 99.98 per cent.
City Water operates an extensive network comprising:
- Seven wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) at Capalaba, Cleveland, Mount Cotton, Point Lookout, Dunwich, Amity Point and Coochiemudlo Island.
- 46 sewage pumping stations.
- 1,153 km of water mains and 1,384 km of sewer mains, totalling 2,537 km of underground infrastructure.
- 15 water reservoirs and 8 pump stations.
The unit also maintained 15,462 water meters, 17,855 water service connections, and 56,000 sewer connections, providing consistent service levels across both mainland and island communities.
City Water recorded 109 water quality complaints during the year (equal to 1.5 per 1,000 properties), primarily relating to taste, odour and discolouration.
The business achieved 100 per cent compliance with customer service response times, attending all urgent water interruptions within 1.1 hours on average, well inside its two-hour target.
In wastewater management, City Water treated an average of 39.4 ML of sewage per day, producing 4,425 tonnes of biosolids, of which 98.8 per cent were beneficially reused through agricultural land application.
A total of 17 non-conformances were reported across the city’s Environmental Authorities, with several attributed to extreme rainfall events linked to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The Regulator issued no enforcement actions, acknowledging Council’s prompt mitigation response.
Financially, City Water reported:
- Operating revenue of $154.6 million, 1.2 per cent below the $156.5 million budget target.
- Operating expenditure of $89.4 million, within 0.3 per cent of the $89.7 million budget.
- Net operating result of $65.2 million.
- Capital expenditure of $14.05 million, representing 52 per cent of the $27.12 million program, with several projects continuing into 2025–2026.
Key capital works included:
- Kinross Road sewer trunk main construction ($7.6 million).
- Capalaba WWTP capacity expansion ($1.7 million).
- Dunwich WWTP upgrade ($1.3 million).
- Renewal of 3.7 km of gravity sewer mains through relining.
- Water main replacements at Begonia Court, Masthead Drive and Bingle Road.
- Fire service upgrades at Capalaba and Mount Cotton WWTPs.
Maintenance efficiency remained high, with zero lost-time injuries and 98.9 per cent completion of planned preventative maintenance tasks.
Water main breaks and leaks occurred at a rate of 9.4 per 100 km, well below the Queensland benchmark of 12.
To strengthen long-term resilience, City Water progressed its Wastewater Infrastructure Strategy, commissioning detailed environmental and hydraulic studies, including seagrass mapping, fauna surveys and hydrographic modelling.
Work also advanced on the Southern Redland Bay WWTP offset initiative, in partnership with Stockland, which includes restoration of coastal wetland habitats such as mangroves and saltmarsh to improve nutrient removal and biodiversity outcomes.
The unit continued its focus on energy and resource efficiency, achieving a 4 per cent reduction in electricity use per ML treated and diverting over 19 tonnes of waste from landfill through recycling and reuse initiatives.h habitats to enhance water quality and wildlife protection.
