Water
Council maintains urban water supply schemes for the towns of Warwick, Allora, Yangan and Stanthorpe, and for many of the villages in the region.
Allora, Yangan and Warwick’s water supply is sourced from Leslie Dam and can be supplemented by Connolly Dam (2157 ML) when necessary. Council has an allocation of water from Leslie Dam (operated by Sun Water) of 2707 ML per year. The Warwick water supply treatment plant services a population of around 12,300 residents and a number of commercial and light industry businesses.
Stanthorpe’s water is sourced from Storm King Dam, with a capacity of 2,065 ML, servicing a population of around 5,300 residents and a number of commercial and light industry businesses.
Killarney’s water scheme supplies the village, several major industries and an active commercial centre. Water is obtained from a weir on Spring Creek, treated and transferred to reservoirs.
The villages Dalveen, Pratten, and Leyburn are serviced by systems of bores, supplying varying quantities and qualities of water.
Wastewater
Warwick Wastewater Treatment Plant can treat effluent to Class A quality with low nutrient concentrations. This high quality recycled water is used for irrigation of public access areas, including local sports and recreation clubs, school sports fields, Council parks and gardens. It is also used for dust suppression and in road construction where appropriate. This tertiary treatment system is only operated when there is demand for recycled water of this quality, otherwise treated effluent is discharged to local farms for pasture irrigation.
The Stanthorpe wastewater recycling process takes treated wastewater from the Stanthorpe Wastewater Treatment Plant and supplies it for irrigation to local horticultural growers, local sports and recreation fields, the golf course, public high school and the cemetery. Almost 100 percent of effluent from the wastewater treatment plant is reused.
This Effluent Reuse Scheme provides significant economic benefits to the community through increased agricultural productivity, and was the recipient of the 2005 Excellence Award from the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (QLD).