Billing FAQs

Quarterly (approximately every 90 days). Billing periods for our residential customers are usually between 85 and 95 days.

We usually bill you on the same date in each quarter. However, factors like the weather and the fact that we don’t issue bills or conduct meter reading on weekends can delay the process. This is why the billing period on your bills may vary - usually between 85-95 days.

Payment is due within 30 days of the date your bill is issued. 

Because your property is able to be connected to the water or sewer network.

Sewerage and water access charges are set prices applied to properties with access (connected or unconnected) to the sewerage and water network. They pay for the cost of building, maintaining and replacing the pipes, pumps and other infrastructure that delivers these services.

As with all critical public infrastructure (transport, telecommunications, health), it is important for all members of the community to contribute to the development and upkeep of this infrastructure, so that everyone can have the benefit of it now and in the future. Unitywater charges access fees in accordance with The Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008 (sections 164 and 165), which states that Unitywater must provide access to the sewerage and water network to every property in its service area, and may recover the cost of this from the customer:

164. Access to service in service area 
(1) The service provider must, to the greatest practicable extent, ensure that— 
(a) all premises in the service area are able to be connected directly and separately to the service provider’s infrastructure for the area

165. Recovering cost of giving access to registered service.  
The service provider may recover from a customer the reasonable cost of complying with section 164 for the customer’s premises.

This legislation dictates that Unitywater must provide a sewerage and water network to every property in the service area. It does not require that properties are connected, but only that properties are ‘able to be connected’ to the infrastructure.  Access charges are therefore applicable to all vacant and improved properties within the Unitywater service area. 

Unitywater does not offer a discount if you pay your bill early.

Yes. Sign up for e-billing and choose to receive your bill by email or SMS. Log in or register for our online services in My Account, then go to the 'My Details' tab and can change your 'Bill delivery' method to email or SMS.

Bills that we send via email are generated from an automated domain: no-reply@billing.unitywater.com 

If you're not receiving bills by email and you should be, check your Junk folder and make sure to add the above address to your list of safe senders.

Yes. Interest charges of 8% per annum compounding daily will apply to any outstanding balance after the due date on your bill. Any interest charges will appear on your next bill. If you need extra time to pay your bill, please request a 7-day extension or set up a payment plan. 

If you have overdue amounts from previous bills showing on your new bill, the overdue amounts are due and payable immediately - they are not due on the new due date printed on your latest bill.

Some payments made with a credit card, on water and sewerage accounts, incur a 0.7% surcharge. We are charged fees by our financial institutions when our customers pay using the credit option. The 0.7% surcharge is the same rate charged to us by financial institutions. We have many other payment options available that do not incur the surcharge. To see what payments do and do not incur the surcharge please visit our credit card surcharge page. 

Yes. The Federal Government manages the Pensioner Water Subsidy which we pass on to eligible customers. Eligible pensioners receive up to $120 off their water and sewerage bill every year. Find out more about the Pensioner Water Subsidy.

No. When you sell your property, we don't send you a final bill for your charges up until the property settlement date. Instead, we continue with the property's existing quarterly meter reading and billing cycle, and we simply transfer the next bill due to be issued to the new owner (the buyer of the property).

If the property settlement took place partway through the quarterly billing cycle, it means the new owner's first bill will include some of your charges for the period of time you still owned the property up until the settlement date. Don't worry, your outstanding charges should have been taken care of in the settlement process, which is organised by the conveyancer.

If you have a credit on your Unitywater account your conveyancer will arrange an adjustment to cover the credit balance during settlement. 

For new owners (buyers): When you buy a new house, your conveyancer will order a Water Search Certificate. This certificate shows any of the seller's charges still owing or any credits on the property's Unitywater account. Your conveyancer uses this information to determine what adjustments needs to be completed as part of the settlement process. Find out more: Buying, selling and moving.

For tenants: Please check your rental agreement and discuss payment of water bills with your landlord or property manager. Find out more: Landlords and tenants.

1. Log in to My Account.
2. Click on 'My History'.
3. Scroll down to 'Export billing and payment history'.
4. Input dates into the 'To' and 'From' fields and 'Export'.
5. Alternatively, you can press 'Last financial year' and 'Export'.
6. A Transaction Summary will then open in Excel.

Firstly, please consider if the amount you want refunded can simply be put towards your next bill, or transferred to another water and sewerage account if you have more than one.

If you are in the process of selling your property, any credit amount on your Unitywater account will be paid back to you through your settlement adjustment.  Due to this process, we are unable to give you a refund during this time. If you have any questions about the settlement adjustment process, please contact your conveyancer.

If you are eligible for a refund, it can be issued to your bank account or via cheque. Refunds cannot be processed against a credit card. This includes credit cards used to set up direct debit.

How to apply:

If you are the property owner requesting a refund on your account, please call 1300 086 489 and we can process the request over the phone.

If you are not the property owner, you need to submit your request in writing. Please contact us on 1300 086 489 and we’ll send you an email asking for some more details, including proof of payment.

Please allow up to 10 days for the refund to appear.

This will appear on your bill if you live in a multi-unit complex like an apartment, duplex or retirement village. It means your property has one water meter for the whole complex, with water bills divided amongst the individual units according to a 'property share percentage (%) or lot entitlement.

The property share percentage (%) that has been allocated to your unit is not determined by Unitywater, but is given to us by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines when the plans for constructing your complex were registered.

If you live in a unit complex and would like to have more control over your own water costs, sub-metering is an option. Sub-metering allows multi-unit property owners to measure their own individual water usage. All unit owners need to give their approval before the Body Corporate lodges an application. Find out more about sub-metering on our building units and townhouses page.

Due to Privacy Act restrictions, we can’t discuss details of water supply and sewerage accounts for this property with you unless you are authorised by the owner. 

Please refer it to your landlord, real estate or property agent. 

Read more about Notices to Restrict Water Supply.

Moreton Bay access charges are slightly higher than those for the Sunshine Coast and Noosa due to the difference in the level of investment and value of water and sewerage assets that Unitywater inherited from the councils in each region. (Unitywater took over water and sewerage services from councils when it was formed in 2010.)

The value of assets per customer and the investment needed to upgrade and maintain those assets are major factors in pricing. Moreton Bay has higher access charges because it has more assets (about 60% of total assets) than the other regions. Significant upgrades have been needed in Moreton Bay to cater for population growth and to meet strict environmental standards for sewage treatment plants, which has also contributed to these higher access charges.

More customers = lower costs

The concentration of properties – or lack thereof – in each council area is another factor affecting prices. The more properties (or customers) connected to existing assets, the less it costs to provide the service for each property (customer). Think of it this way: if five people share the rent on a $500 a week house, they pay $100 a week. If only one or two people live there, the rent would be more expensive ($250) per person.

There are on average more properties per kilometre of water pipeline on the Sunshine Coast and in Noosa, compared to Moreton Bay.  This is another reason why Moreton Bay access charges are higher.