Urban bulk water prices for South East Queensland (SEQ) are set by the Queensland Government based on recommendations from the state's independent economic regulator, the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA).

The 5 SEQ council-owned water businesses are charged these prices by Seqwater.

Bulk water supplier

Seqwater, the bulk water supplier for SEQ, manages water supply assets and the natural catchments of the region's major water supply sources. This includes dams, weirs, conventional water treatment plants and climate resilient sources of water from the Gold Coast Desalination Plant and the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme.

Seqwater also owns and operates a 600km reverse flow pipeline network enabling drinking water to be transported throughout SEQ as needed providing an important level of water security for SEQ households and businesses.

Bulk water supply code

Learn more about the Bulk water supply code (PDF, 260KB).

Setting bulk water prices in SEQ

The SEQ bulk water price charged by Seqwater is set by the Queensland Government based on recommendations from the QCA. The government directs the QCA to investigate and recommend to the government bulk water prices, which will provide Seqwater with sufficient revenue to recover the costs of providing treated bulk drinking water through its extensive network of dams, water treatment plants and pipelines.

The QCA review ensures that Seqwater is operating as efficiently as possible and bulk water prices are fair and as low as possible.

Until 2008, bulk water supply in SEQ was a local council responsibility, with each council area setting its own prices. When the government took over responsibility for bulk water supply in 2008, it established a 10-year 'price path' of annual price increases to gradually repay debt and achieve a common bulk water price across all SEQ councils. Because of their different starting prices, each of SEQ's 11 councils has a different price path to reach the common price.

2022–26 South East Queensland (SEQ) bulk water prices

All SEQ council areas will pay the following SEQ bulk water prices which will apply from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2026, and were decided based on recommendations from the Queensland Competition Authority.

Bulk water prices for SEQ councils ($/kilolitre)

Indicative bulk water costs for SEQ households (SEQ average 160 kilolitres/year)

Note: Figures are based on the Queensland Competition Authority's advice of the average household water use of 160kL of water a year (equivalent to 2.5 people using 169 litres each per day).

There are 2 types of organisations—local councils and council-owned distributor-retailers—which provide water distribution, retail and sewerage services to customers in 11 council areas in South East Queensland.

Providers of water and sewerage services

Local councils provide water and sewerage services in the following areas:

• Logan
• Redland
• Gold Coast.

The remaining 8 council areas are serviced by these 2 council-owned distributor-retailers:

• Queensland Urban Utilities, which services Brisbane, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim, and Somerset local council areas
• Unitywater, which services Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast and Noosa local council areas.

Prices for water and sewerage services

These 5 council water businesses all buy their treated bulk water from Seqwater, the Queensland Government's bulk water authority.

The final water and sewerage bill customers receive is comprised of 2 components:

• water business charges (Gold Coast, Logan, Redland, Queensland Urban Utilities or Unitywater), which recover the cost of providing water distribution, retail and sewerage services
• Seqwater's charges, which recover the cost of managing water supply assets (e.g. dams, weirs, pipelines and water treatment plants) and which appears on the water and sewerage bill as the 'state bulk water charge' or similar.

Outside South East Queensland, local councils are responsible for setting prices for the water and sewerage services they provide to your business or household.

Comparative performance reporting

We have introduced a mandatory performance reporting framework which requires annual reporting on key performance indicators (KPIs) by all water service providers.

This performance data is publicly available to view, explore and compare using Queensland's Urban Water Explorer.

This allows you to check the performance of your provider (in providing water and sewerage services) against other providers. This transparency provides an incentive for improved provider performance.