Expanding Horizons: Infrastructure & Utilities

In the 1970s, Council's Health Department was responsible for sanitary and garbage disposals, costing approximately 3% of Council's total budget.  Sanitary (nightsoil) and garbage collections were weekly, serviced by a fleet of twenty-eight vehicles.

Sewerage 

As sewered areas expanded across the City, the number of sanitary services declined during this period.  By the late 1970s, 72% of the City (the equivalent of 82% of the population) had access to the sewerage network. 

The sanitary depot was located at Briggs Road, and had been in use since 1895.  The nightsoil burial area was divided into sections which could be re-used every two years, once the contents had broken down.

South East Ipswich Sewerage Scheme
Beginning in 1970, the South East Ipswich Sewerage Scheme connected the suburbs of Raceview, Silkstone, Blackstone, Bundamba, Goodna, and Gailes to the sewer network.  New treatment plants were constructed at Bundamba and Redbank.  By 1978, $9.5 million had been invested in the scheme (equivalent of over $55 million in 2022), with work commencing on sewering the remainder of Redbank and Riverview and construction of new pump stations at Six Mile Creek and Goodna Creek.

Western Suburbs Sewerage Scheme

The South East Ipswich scheme was completed in partnership between Ipswich City and Moreton Shire Councils.  As the Tivoli treatment plant reached capacity Ipswich and Moreton Shire commenced investigations into augmentation of the collection and treatment systems for the Western suburbs.

Waste Disposal

Garbage disposal utilised the controlled tipping method, which alternated layers of garbage with soul to reclaim low-lying areas.  Once tips were filled, they were levelled and when finished, they were top-dressed and grassed for use as playing fields.  36 ha. of previously unusable ground had been reclaimed by Council by 1978 using this method.

Refuse tips available to the public by the end of the 1970s were located at Flinders Drive, Leichhardt (opened 1972), Gledson Street, North Booval (opened 1978), and Alma Street, Gailes (opened 1978).  As the tips were located close to housing, only dry material was allowed to be dumped there, with household and food wastes disposed of at a separate tip, not opened to the public and remote from settled areas.

Water Supply

In the 1970s, Council remained responsible for the construction, maintenance, operation, and administration of the water supply for Ipswich.  The water supply was provided by the pump station and treatment works at Mt. Crosby, which was operated by Brisbane City Council.  Water distribution was via a series of trunk mains,  eight reservoirs, and pump stations.  By 30th June 1978, the City's total reservoir storage was 75.86 megalitres, with a further reservoir, capable of holding 19.3 megalitres, under construction at High Street, Brassall.