Water prices to rise

IPSWICH residents will pay more for water when a State Government increase starts in July.

The price of water is expected to rise by $37.20 in 2010/11 for households using the city average 150kL a year and will continue to rise every financial year until 2017/18.

The rise will not be impacted by Queensland Urban Utilities, which takes over delivery of the city’s water supply in July.

The new entity has already started billing Brisbane residents, who paid an average $214.91 for their first quarterly bill including the State Government bulk water charge, water access charge, sewage access charge and consumption charges.

Ipswich’s average quarterly bill for 2009/10 is $273.38.

While admitting he was “never supportive of Queensland Urban Utilities”, Ipswich City Council City Works Committee chairman Trevor Nardi said he had to accept the decision.

“My issue has to do with staff and eventually that will become a community issue with regards to water breaks and complaints,” Cr Nardi said.

“There could be some pain in that transition period. At the moment if someone has a complaint they can call council or their local councillor and we’ll take steps to address the issue.

“The way (Queensland Urban Utilities) is structured, I don’t think we’ll be able to do that anymore.”

Queensland Urban Utilities CEO Noel Faulkner said the new billing system would put household water use under the spotlight.

“If your water bill is higher, check if your actual water consumption has risen,” Mr Faulkner said.

“Water consumption is charged based on how many kilolitres each household uses per quarter.

“If you are using more water, then your bill will rise too.”

Mr Faulkner said the new water accounts would be issued quarterly.

“I would like to emphasise that water charges will not be increasing with the separate water account,” Mr Faulkner said.

“The only change is that water charges will no longer appear on the residential rate account.

“These charges will simply be transferred on to the separate water account from Queensland Urban Utilities. It will arrive in the mail shortly after the rate account.”

Queensland Urban Utilities was established as part of State Government changes to the way water is managed in south-east Queensland.

It will provide water and wastewater services to the cities and townships of Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim and Somerset from July.

The State Government last year projected a 10-year price path for bulk water based on assumed interest rates and consumption patterns.

It reflects existing bulk water assets and improved water security for south-east Queensland delivered by the $9 billion water grid, including desalination, purified recycled water, new storages and the regional pipeline network.