Our water network

GAWB supplies bulk water to:

• Gladstone Regional Council which then supplies households and communities in Gladstone, Calliope, Boyne Island, Tannum Sands, Benaraby and Mt Larcom
• industry leaders in the region such as power generators, local manufacturing, and export facilities. 

Our infrastructure includes:

•  Awoonga Dam (holding up to 777,000 megalitres)
• two water treatment plants in the Gladstone area, with a third under construction as part of the Fitzroy to Gladstone Pipeline (FGP)
• a network of more than 200kms of raw and treated water pipelines, with a further 117kms of pipeline under construction as part of the FGP
• pump stations and reservoirs to balance daily supply.

Every hour of every day, we move on average 3,650,000 litres of raw water and 1,350,000 litres of treated water. That’s 120 million litres of water moved each day by GAWB through our network of pipes.

It’s a complex operation made simple for the people who depend on it. 

Under construction – the Fitzroy to Gladstone Pipeline (FGP) and associated infrastructure – will deliver enhanced water security for the region. The FGP is a 117-kilometre pipeline which will transport water from the Lower Fitzroy River to GAWB’s network in Yarwun, north of Gladstone. Visit our FGP page for more information.

Treating water in our network

Clean, safe, and sustainable water is essential — and not just for drinking. Industries use it in processes that power our local economy. The community enjoys it through green spaces, recreation, and everyday living.

Key facts:

• GAWB pumps approximately 109 megalitres of water each day from Lake Awoonga, 72 per cent of which is supplied directly to industry as raw water.
• We treat an average of 32 megalitres of drinking water each day, which is equivalent to about 13 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
• This treated water, which meets Australian Drinking Water Guidelines set by the National Health and Medical Research Council, is supplied to the Gladstone Regional Council who then deliver it to customers via their reticulation system.
• We use a process known as conventional water treatment, which is very effective for removing contaminants as part of the process to produce safe drinking water.

The conventional water treatment process

Conventional water treatment uses a combination of coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation and filtration to remove particles from the water and disinfection to kill pathogens.

The water treatment process is continuously monitored by our operators and online instrumentation to ensure it meets the stringent standards, as set out in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, which are set by the National Health and Medical Research Council. These guidelines apply to all water suppliers across Australia.

• Coagulation – a coagulant is rapidly mixed into the water to create collisions between the coagulant and particles in the water to form larger particles.
• Flocculation – the water is slowly stirred to allow coagulated particles to grow larger.
• Sedimentation – as the particles grow larger, they become heavy and sink, separating clarified water from sediment.
• Filtration – clarified water is filtered through sand media filters to remove the final particles for a very high-quality water.
• Disinfection – chlorine is added to the filtered water to inactivate pathogens.
• pH correction – the water is corrected for pH to protect pipelines from corrosion.