Update by: Amanda Hancock, Regional Strategic Infrastructure Coordinator
FNQ Regional Water Capability Plan
I am pleased to confirm that at their recent meeting, the FNQROC Board endorsed the Regional Water Capability Plan, and the focus for the FNQ Water Alliance next year will be on implementation planning to identify the priority actions and stakeholder input required to put the Plan into action. Council officers are also working with FNQROC on developing Regional Water Leak Detection, which we hope will be supported by funding from the Future Drought Fund. We have also recently released a Request for Quote for a suitable contractor to undertake Regional Drinking Water Quality Management Plan (DWQMP) Audits on behalf of almost all member councils. Drinking water providers are required to prepare a DWQMP under the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008, and these plans must be audited every 4 years, it makes sense to undertake these audits using a collective procurement arrangement to increase efficiency and potentially benefit from economies of scale.
I recently attended QLD Water’s Emerging Contaminants Workshop held at James Cook University in Townsville. This workshop included many insightful presentations about the science progressing the understanding of emerging contaminants – think micro and nano plastics and PFAS – and explored the current regulations and potential solutions as well as looking at how the sector is responding to this complicated issue – these are undoubtedly no easy solutions. We are shortly due to commence a study on how we might reduce the costs of managing our biosolids by improving our dewatering processes and exploring the potential for wet weather storage. We will also be commencing the procurement process for biosolids beneficial ruse as our current regional arrangement will expire towards the end of next year.
2025 Date Claimer:
- Regional Water Alliance – Friday 7 February 2025 – Cairns