By Hannah Moon

Topic: Water Supply

Thu 28 May 2026 at 5:37am

In short:

A report says Queensland's water pipes are in bad shape.

A pipe bursts every 73 minutes, wasting a lot of water.

What's next?

The Local Government Association of Queensland wants money for water pipes.

Many pipes in Queensland are old and need to be replaced.

The report says 15% of treated water is lost due to leaks and bursts.

This is equal to 52 big swimming pools of water every day.

Replacing old pipes will cost a lot of money, $5 billion.

More than half of the pipes are old and need to be replaced soon.

Alison Smith is the CEO of the Local Government Association of Queensland.

All the water and wastewater pipes in Queensland need to be replaced, which will cost $45.3 billion.

The money from water and wastewater services is not enough to pay for this.

The Local Government Association of Queensland is asking the government for help.

The old pipes are a big problem for councils and the people who pay them.

The CEO of the Local Government Association of Queensland is asking for money to fix the pipes.

She says the problem is getting worse and something needs to be done now.

Ten years ago, a pipe burst every 80 minutes, now it's every 73 minutes.

The CEO says the government should help councils pay for pipe maintenance.

She compares maintaining pipes to maintaining a car, it needs to be done regularly.

People in Queensland expect to have water when they turn on the tap.

The Local Government Association of Queensland wants to work with the government to fix the pipes.

A water main burst in Tingalpa and many homes lost water.

The CEO is asking the government to work with councils to maintain the pipes.

The state government says it is spending money to help councils with water infrastructure.

In Queensland, councils manage the water and wastewater networks.

Most councils manage their own water and wastewater, but some have special companies to do it.

There is no special money for water and wastewater infrastructure in Queensland.

The state government says it is giving money to councils for infrastructure, but it's not just for water and wastewater.

The government's funding is for all kinds of infrastructure, like roads and buildings.

The Local Government Association of Queensland has a report about the problem with water infrastructure.

The report says it's cheaper to maintain pipes than to fix them when they break.

As construction costs go up and some councils lose people, it's harder for them to pay for pipes.

The mayor of Quilpie is having trouble getting money to fix the sewerage plant.

The sewerage plant in Quilpie is very old and needs to be replaced.

The mayor says the water infrastructure is the biggest problem he faces.

Many water mains in Queensland are old and will soon need to be replaced.

The mayor of Quilpie has seen more damage to infrastructure, especially in small towns.

When a pipe breaks in a small town, it's expensive to fix it.

The last time this research was done, it showed that if nothing changed, there would be more pipe bursts.

Thu 28 May 2026 at 5:37am

Thu 28 May 2026 at 9:55am

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