Business Overview
The three core services provided by Cairns Water are:
- Water Management
- Wastewater Management and
- Solid Waste & Recycling Management
In addition to these services, Cairns Water & Waste also provides institutional capacity building services, particularly targeting financial control and monitoring, training and development.
To view a complete version of the Cairns Water & Waste's Customer Service Standards.
Water Management
The water supply system currently supplies approximately 28,000 megalitres to the region annually. The core activities of the water supply function are the design, construction, operation and maintenance of:
- Dams and reservoirs
- Intakes
- Treatment plants
- Pump stations
- Supply and reticulation mains
- Water meters/services (including water meter readings)
- Supply to all Council facilities
- Fire hydrants
Principal assets include:
- Copperlode Falls Dam (capacity of 37,100 megalitres)
- A major water treatment plant at Freshwater and a minor treatment plant at Behana Gorge
- Minor intakes (8)
- Borefield (1)
- Pump extraction systems (2)
Other infrastructure assets include:
- Weirs (10)
- Bores (3)
- Service reservoirs (61)
- Pumping stations (34)
| Water Performance Data | Value |
| Annual revenue (approx.) | 30M |
| Annual expenses | 29M |
| Average capital program | 7M |
| Current cost of assets | 532M |
| Two-part tariff in place | Yes |
| Residential customers | 53,000 |
| Commercial customers | 3,700 |
| Length of water mains | 1,828.3 km |
Wastewater
The core activities of the wastewater function are the design, construction, operation and maintenance of:
- Wastewater treatment plants and outfalls
- Wastewater pumping stations and licensed overflows
- Reticulation systems
- Trade waste
Principal assets include:
- Major treatment plants (6)
- Biosolid disposal points (3)
- Biosolid Reprocessing Plant (1)
Other infrastructure assets include:
- Estuarine discharge points (4)
- Freshwater discharge points (2)
- Pumping stations (177)
| Sewerage Performance Data | Value |
| Annual revenue (approx) | 31M |
| Annual expenses | 23M |
| Average capital program | 11M |
| Current costs of assets | 323M |
| Residential customers | 48,500 |
| Commercial customers | 2,800 |
| Length of sewerage mains | 1,120 km |
Solid Waste
The solid waste services provided by Cairns Water include domestic collection services together with the provision of waste transfer stations, recycling facilities and other ancillary waste management services.
Cairns Water also operates and maintains five small transfer station facilities with an additional facility maintained under contract.
Cairns Water is heavily involved in the rehabilitation and ongoing monitoring of other closed landfill sites. The Portsmith facility is unique in that it rests upon 20 hectares of reclaimed tidal mangrove.
Cairns Water is currently managing the contract with the Bedminster Compost Plant for the treatment of the City's waste stream. This plant treats all putrescible waste to form a soil conditioner or compost. The plant is targeted to achieve a seventy percent diversion from landfill.
Principal assets include:
- Closed - Landfill (1)
- Transfer stations (5)
- Buy Back Shop (1)
- Materials Recovery Facilty (1)
| Solid waste performance data | Value |
| Annual revenue (approx) | 16M |
| Annual expenses | 10M |
| Average capital program | 4M |
| Current costs of assets | 7M |
| Transfer stations | 7 |
| Landfill | 1 |
| Kerbside weekly collection | 56,000 |