Where Pine Mountain’s
tap water comes from.
Most Pine Mountain properties are off the drinking water network and run on rainwater tanks and bores. What comes out of the tap is the owner’s responsibility. Connected properties get the same water as the rest of Ipswich: water released from Wivenhoe Dam travels down the Mid Brisbane River to Mt Crosby, Seqwater’s East Bank and West Bank plants treat it, and Urban Utilities pumps it through its Ipswich reservoirs to your meter. Seqwater reports on the City of Ipswich zone every month. The headline figures are in the table below.
Seqwater adds two things on purpose. The first is chloramine, a disinfectant that holds a residual longer than plain chlorine over the long mains out to Pine Mountain. It is also why a standard carbon jug does less than people expect. The second is fluoride, dosed to a target of 0.8 mg/L under Queensland law. Fish keepers need to neutralise the chloramine. Anyone on home dialysis should talk to their unit about filtration.
Tank water in Pine Mountain is another thing entirely. Rainwater is soft and slightly acidic, it carries whatever is on the roof, and only the owner treats or tests it. Queensland Health advises a first-flush diverter on the downpipe, clean gutters, a sealed tank with screened inlets, and treatment before drinking. Bore chemistry varies from one bore to the next, so bore water needs a laboratory test before anything else.
Mineral spike after heavy rain, 20 November 2024. Treated water from the Mt Crosby plants recorded total dissolved solids of 700 and 730 mg/L (guideline 600), chloride of 270 and 300 mg/L (guideline 250) and hardness of 250 mg/L (guideline 200) after a significant rainfall event pushed natural mineral concentrations up in the Mid Brisbane River. Five aesthetic guideline exceedances, no health exceedance. Seqwater Drinking Water Service Annual Report 2024–25
How hard is the water in Pine Mountain?
Rainwater is soft, so the problem in most Pine Mountain homes is corrosion. Slightly acidic tank water pits copper pipe and brass fittings over the years and leaves blue-green stains at the drain. Test the tank water’s pH. If it runs low, a neutralising filter protects the plumbing and the hot water system. Hot water systems in Pine Mountain ↗
The pH is going up
Seqwater is lifting the pH of water leaving Mt Crosby from about 7.8 to a target of 8.4 from mid-August 2026, to extend disinfection in warm months, raise alkalinity and reduce corrosion in the network. The change covers Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, Moreton Bay and parts of the Scenic Rim. In Pine Mountain homes, copper pipes and brass fittings corrode less in slightly more alkaline water. Hot water systems will scale a little more. Fish keepers should re-check their tank water after the change.
What the pipes in Pine Mountain add
Acreage plumbing in Pine Mountain means long service lines, a pressure pump and, on many properties, a tank between the roof and the tap. Each one gives sediment a place to settle and biofilm a place to grow. A pump that cycles constantly usually means a leak somewhere in the run. Bore water has its own chemistry. It is often hard, sometimes high in iron or manganese, and needs a laboratory test before anyone treats it.
The 2021 Census counted 568 private dwellings in Pine Mountain, 100% of them separate houses. About 6% of households rent. Everyone else owns the plumbing between the meter and the tap, and most of what follows is about that stretch.
The Brisbane River: where Pine Mountain’s water goes
The 65 km of the Brisbane River between Wivenhoe Dam and Mt Crosby Weir. Drinking water for Ipswich and Brisbane is drawn from this stretch, so its condition reaches every tap in the city. Pine Mountain’s stormwater reaches the Brisbane River.
Healthy Land & Water rated the Mid Brisbane River catchment “Poor” for environmental condition in the 2025 Report Card, down from “Very good”, with social and economic benefits rated high. This reach is the raw water source for the Mt Crosby treatment plants. Its Report Card condition fell from very good to poor in 2025, which is why Seqwater's treatment, not the river, is what stands between the catchment and the tap. 2025 Report Card ↗
The Queensland Government publishes live readings from stream gauges in the catchment. This is the nearest to Pine Mountain:
Where the wastewater goes
Pine Mountain is largely unsewered. Wastewater goes to a septic tank or an on-site treatment system on each block. When one fails, the nutrients and bacteria go into the soil, the nearest gully and the Brisbane River. Council regulates on-site systems and some work on them needs a licensed installer. If you have a bore and a septic system, check the distance between them first.
Sources: Seqwater monthly water quality report, City of Ipswich zone · Seqwater Drinking Water Service Annual Report 2024–25 · Seqwater: pH level of drinking water enhanced in parts of South East Queensland · Urban Utilities: Water hardness · Healthy Land & Water Report Card 2025: Key Messages & Catchment Summaries · Water Monitoring Information Portal · ABS 2021 Census QuickStats. Figures are for the City of Ipswich supply zone; Seqwater and Urban Utilities do not publish results by suburb. Housing descriptions are general observations about the suburb and do not describe any individual property. Data last updated 2026-10-01.
