A $5 billion shortfall in funding for urgently needed water and wastewater renewals has been revealed in a new report from the Local Government Association of Queensland.
According to new research, a “perfect storm” is brewing for water and wastewater services, in which ageing assets have caused a pipe to break every 73 minutes across the state — a trend that has only worsened since 2018.
‘The Last Drop: Fixing Queensland’s Infrastructure Cliff’ detailed how Queensland communities were increasingly forced to operate with infrastructure well beyond its typical service life.
“Queensland’s water infrastructure network is now entering a high-risk age profile, with an average pipe age of 58 years – and more than half the network beyond typical service life,” said LGAQ President Matt Burnett.
“The scale of this challenge is well beyond the remit of councils to fund, who are managing this ageing network despite being the level of government funded with the least financial resources.”
At present there is no dedicated funding source for water and wastewater infrastructure projects in Queensland.
“Councils and ratepayers cannot shoulder this significant burden and financial risk alone,” said Burnett.
About 90 per cent of Queensland councils directly manage water and wastewater networks for their communities, while 10 per cent do so via council-owned water utilities with a statewide network spanning more than 82,000 kilometres of water and sewerage mains.
Raedlinger Primus Line provides trenchless, eco-friendly systems for rehabilitating aging pressure pipelines.
According to Primus Line Engineer Heiko Manzke, the infrastructure cliff, contrary to those who mistake it for a future event in waiting, is a curve we’re already on.
“What’s changed is that it’s now visible enough to make mainstream news,” he said.
“The engineering community has been modelling this since Queensland Water Directorate’s 2018 work. Pressure mains are the harder problem. They carry load, they’re under cities, and a failure is a front-page event.
“That’s exactly why utilities can’t keep deferring the conversation about how to extend their service life.”
For at least two decades sewer rehabilitation has been a mainstream concern in Australia.
Manzke opined that pressure pipe rehabilitation is roughly where sewer relining was in the early 2000s.
“It’s proven overseas [and] increasingly proven here but still treated as the exception rather than a planning default,” he said.
“What’s shifted in the last few years is the proof base. Australian utilities now have local case studies – Urban Utilities, City of Gold Coast, and others – where pressure pipe rehabilitation has been delivered in live corridors, under real traffic, under waterways, or through the CBD. That changes the risk conversation for the next asset manager looking at the same decision.”
LGAQ CEO Alison Smith said the current approach was neither fair nor sustainable with Queensland councils calling for an urgent funding injection from the State Government in its upcoming June State Budget to kickstart much-needed investment in water infrastructure.
“Councils are urging the State Government to act now – or risk leaving Queensland communities of all shapes and sizes behind in the delivery of services that are fundamental to public health, liveability and long-term resilience,” she said.
“The report shows Queenslanders are already experiencing the consequences, with supply interruptions already being felt in some households and businesses.”
Without urgent support, the gap between infrastructure needs and available funding in all corners of the state will continue to widen said Smith.
“Residents and businesses need certainty that when they go to turn on the tap, the water will flow but in some areas, this can no longer be guaranteed,” she said.
Much of the $7.1 billion allocated for infrastructure ahead of the Brisbane Olympic Games in 2032 is for venue upgrades and support infrastructure.
Some 22,000 kilometres of water mains were presently nearing the end of their useful lifespan in the state.
Ageing pipes, according to an ABC report, are currently losing enough water to fill 52 Olympic-sized pools daily, placing exorbitant emergency repair costs onto local councils.
The “cliff”, in Manzke’s words, isn’t a problem to be solved once.
“It’s a portfolio to be managed for the next 30 years,” he said.
“Utilities that treat rehabilitation as a core renewal tool – not an emergency workaround – will get through it.
“The ones still defaulting to dig-and-replace will run out of budget before they run out of pipe.”
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