Water Connections Tour 2023

The “tourists” included delegates from:

• Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water,

• Queensland Health,

• Department of Youth Justice, Employment, Small Business and Training,

• Department of Environment and Science,

• Local Government Association of Queensland, and

• Urban Utilities.

A big thanks to Trevor Dean who joined the team for the duration of the tour as our technical expert.

We then met with members of South Burnett Regional Council (SBRC) at the Commercial Hotel in Kingaroy to talk about urban water services in regional communities before heading to the Wondai Water Treatment Plant, originally constructed in 1998. It includes a raw water pump station, flocculator tank, DAFF and disinfection processes. Main concerns include wet weather events and high raw water turbidity as well as source water availability.

The last stop for the day was the Murgon Sewage Treatment Plant, circa 1961 with some updates in

1986 and 2010. It includes a course manual bar screen, Imhoff tanks and Facultative Lagoon Storage and disinfection. Concerns include algae blooms and recycled water quality. The plant is a haven for longnecked turtles, a sight to see!

Day 2: Delegates visited the Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council’s water and sewerage treatment plants and enjoyed morning tea with Councillors including the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

We were impressed by the excellent work the team is doing at both plants, the use of QR codes that makes it easy for staff to get all the information they need for each task, and also the efforts of operators to train and mentor new staff.

We then travelled to Biggenden to catch up with North Burnett Regional Council staff and elected representatives before a site visit of the Biggenden STP. A big thanks to Shaun Johnston and his team for showing us around.

Shaun also showed us the small water treatment plant at the caravan park at Mingo Crossing with some pertinent lessons from buying off-the-shelf equipment from overseas.

Day 3: Reggie Cressbrook from Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council met the group at the Baralaba raw water intake before we caught up with the Mayor and CEO for a delicious morning tea. Reggie and his team then showed us around the Woorabinda Water Treatment Plant, and a group visited the Woorabinda Sewage Treatment Plant.

The afternoon included site visits of the Biloela Water and Sewage Treatment Plants and a meeting at the Banana Shire Council chambers.

We thank Anthony Lipsys and his team for the frank and honest discussions about staff shortages, PFAS problems and their gratitude for the team that keeps things ticking over. Thanks also to the Mayor and Councillors for taking the time to meet with us.