South Burnett brown town water supply would cost $25m to fix

The South Burnett’s brown water looks here to stay after the council decided $25 million was too much to expect ratepayers to pay to get it fixed, but some locals this week said the council should spend the money and fix the problem. VOTE IN OUR POLL

The South Burnett’s brown water looks here to stay after the council decided this week $25 million was too much to expect ratepayers to pay to get it fixed, but some locals surveyed on Thursday said the council should spend the money and fix the problem.

The council reassured its residents the town water supply was safe to drink, even though it might sometimes stink and be brown, and indicated the cost of fixing was too high at $25 million.

People should instead install their own water tanks, they said.

In a discussion around water quality and management on Wednesday, members of the council queried the idea of spending the money to install a new water treatment system.

They discussed the feasibility of implementing a reverse osmosis water purification process which could potentially fix the taste and discolouration issues many townspeople have reported, filmed and photographed.

Kingaroy water in March 2024.

However, at a “conservative figure” of $25 million, several councillors said ratepayers would likely be unwilling or unable to pay it.

The council was told these systems had higher operational costs than its existing water management system, and generated a significant amount of water waste.

Mayor Kathy Duff said while the water was sometimes discoloured or had a noticeable odour, it was safe to drink and rigorously tested.

Water and Wastewater manager Adam Branch said while the taste and odour could be “aesthetically displeasing”, the council ran up to 75 microbial tests every week to ensure it was safe to drink.

He did however caution against drinking discoloured water and said residents must report the issue to the council when it happened.

Councillor Jane Erkens said residents should remember that while Ms Duff was doing a great job in her position, “she can’t turn water into wine” and “we’ve got to work with what we’ve got”.

Several councillors said they grew up drinking town or tank water, and that many long-term residents had just accepted the water might not be “palatable” but that it was safe.

Ms Erkens said newer residents, living in newer builds without water tanks, were often the ones taking issue with the water quality.

Councillor Heath Sander raised the possibility of bringing back subsidies for the installation of rainwater tanks with new builds.

Kathy Duff is the new mayor of the South Burnett Regional Council.

A survey in the heart of Kingaroy this week revealed residents were in support of drastically increasing spending on the water system, and didn’t baulk at the idea it might cost more than $25 million.

A Yarraman woman said that fixing issues with town water might be expensive, but would be worth it in the long run, particularly as the population in the region kept growing.

“It is expensive but the population boom up here has skyrocketed, and eventually we are going to be exactly like the city,” she said.

“It’s going to be built up.

“So, the reality is they need to start putting something into place.”

A Kingaroy cafe owner said she would also support increased spending on the water system.

“We shouldn’t be drinking orange and brown water.”

The business owner said they filtered the water at their shop three times, and their workers had noticed the detrimental effects when they didn’t follow that process.

“We triple filter our water and we noticed a difference once when we didn’t have one of the filters, and our coffee machine had extra scum and everything in it,” she said.

When discussing the potential of bringing back water tank installation subsidies, one local man said subsidies don’t work because prices just increase.

“They brought in a subsidy about 10 years ago and the price of (water) tanks went up, exactly the same amount of money,” he said.

The council has allocated about $200,000 this financial year to investigate existing and potential future issues.

While many local residents take to social media to report issues with their water, they do not report them immediately or directly to the council itself, the council heard this week. This could impact the success of investigating problems, it was told.

Ms Duff urged residents to report their concerns promptly and directly to the council.

Council sources its primary urban water supplies from Boondooma Dam, Bjelke Peterson Dam, Gordonbrook Dam and underground bores.