Unitywater crews are ready to respond and keep water and wastewater services flowing to communities across Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast and Noosa as the state braces for tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Unitywater Executive Manager Customer Delivery, Rhett Duncan, said while the forecast was continuing to change as weather experts tracked the cyclone’s movement, crews are ready and prepared to respond 24/7.
“Severe wet weather events can have impacts on water and wastewater services, which is why Unitywater has taken measures to ensure we’re as prepared as we can be if it does track towards us or if we have a heavy rain event,” Mr Duncan said.
“We have proactive processes in place to make sure our network and our people are ready to respond safely and as quickly as possible.
“This includes rostering extra crew members to prepare for any potential interruptions or repairs to the network, fuelling and checking essential equipment and making sure the reservoir levels are high,” Mr Duncan said.
“Our Control Room operators, who manage the operation of our entire water and wastewater networks, are also monitoring our network around the clock to keep an eye on the hundreds of pump stations, thousands of kilometres of pipes and our 17 wastewater treatment plants across the region.”
Unitywater is encouraging the community to take some simple steps to prepare for any service interruptions and protect their properties, including storing water in preparation.
The utility has advised the Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast and Noosa communities to store at least ten litres of water per person.
“Our water and wastewater networks rely on power to pump and push water through the system,” Mr Duncan said.
“While we have alternative arrangements in place, including generators, the best thing you can do is prepare, just in case.
“Store three days’ worth of water in a covered container – about 10 litres per person – for your family now and know that you’ll have enough for drinking and basic hygiene if a water outage happens.”
Mr Duncan said the bath is another good place to store water, which can be used to fill a small bucket to tip into the toilet bowl to manually flush it.
“Please also check on your elderly family members and neighbours so they’re prepared too.”
Mr Duncan said customers could be impacted longer if conditions were unsafe for crews.
“The safety of our people is paramount and will be prioritised ahead of responding to faults during this event.
“We’ll respond as quickly as possible, but only if it’s safe for our people to travel to a job site and be outside performing work,” he said.
“We thank our customers and community for their patience while we navigate the impacts of Cyclone Alfred.”
“We have dedicated teams working around-the-clock to respond to this weather event, as well as being involved in our region’s Local Disaster Management Groups. We’ll continue to work with them and respond to advice from the authorities.”
Unitywater advised that its customer service counters in Maroochydore and Mango Hill will temporarily close from midday Wednesday 5 March 2025, with customers encouraged to access self-service options at unitywater.com where possible.
The water utility also provided a checklist for customers to be prepared:
- Make sure your contact details are up to date with Unitywater so they can contact you in case of an emergency. Update at any time through ‘My Account’ at www.unitywater.com
- Your house has an overflow relief gully (or ORG) that is designed to prevent your house flooding with sewage. Take simple steps to make sure it’s ready for heavy rain – including making sure it’s not covered or blocked. Find out more at www.unitywater.com/check-your-org
- If you spot a water leak or wastewater overflow, avoid contact with the sewage or dirty water and call Unitywater at any time of the day or night on 1300 086 489 so crews can respond as quickly as possible
- As power outages can also impact your water supply, set aside ten litres of water per person for three days’ worth of washing, bathing and drinking, in case you lose water during this weather event. ‘Get Ready Queensland’ has a list of emergency kit items on its website, at https://www.getready.qld.gov.au/emergencykit
- If you lose water during a weather event, check Unitywater’s Outage Map to see if your street is listed, and find out when water is expected to be back on at www.unitywater.com/outages
Read more tips on how to prepare at www.unitywater.com/wetweather
