Pollution management and monitoring

Pollution can come from many different sources and comes in many different forms. We monitor and regulate many different types of pollution—including air, water and noise pollution.

Controlling air pollution

What can you do?

You can help to reduce air pollutants by choosing to walk, cycle or take public transport rather than drive a car.

When driving, keep your motor vehicle in good condition and drive conservatively to reduce emissions.

Having cleaner, greener choices for the public through good urban design and planning can also reduce pollution. These include more walking and cycling paths, and creating urban hubs where people work, play and shop, reducing the need to travel.

Industry making a difference

Industry can be required to minimise emissions through:

• licensing
• regulation
• installing devices on machinery to monitor and control emissions.

However, natural events like uncontrolled bushfires and dust storms still have a major impact on air quality.

Air quality monitoring

Our monitoring network consists of 25 stations around the state, containing instruments capable of recording meteorological and air pollutant data.

The data collected is checked to ensure it is accurate. Instrument malfunctions or disturbances to measurements due to calibration or maintenance can affect the results. The data is then published online in a colour-coded format to indicate the air quality. The data updates every three hours. The air quality data web page also allows users to select air quality or meteorological data from any monitoring site, for any date and time back to the year 2000, and to view an hourly data table or plot data for a day, week, month or year in a linear or polar format.

Air quality reports

Air quality reports are produced monthly for South East Queensland, Central Queensland and Northern Queensland.

Water quality monitoring

We monitor the health of our rivers, estuaries and coastal areas, and regulate industries’ waste outputs into waterways through licensing.

Read more about:

• ecosystem health indicators 
• biological and habitat monitoring
• water quality guidelines 
• the Environmental Protection (Water) Policy 2009
• research and science partnerships
• water pollution management  
• coastal water quality monitoring
• Gladstone environmental monitoring.

Noise restrictions and complaints

Loud noise can disrupt sleep, interfere with daily activities, and have a negative impact on people's health.

Noise restrictions and guidelines are mostly handled by your local council. There are restrictions about the level of noise from barking dogs, building sites, air conditioners and other devices.

To make a noise complaint, call one of the following:

• Queensland Police on 13 14 44 about
  • music, loud stereos, parties, rowdy behaviour and burglar alarms
  • off-road vehicles and trail bikes
• Queensland Government on 13 QGOV (13 74 68) about
  • state government properties or activities
  • licensed premises outside the Fortitude Valley Special Entertainment Precinct
• Department of Transport and Main Roads on 13 23 80 about
  • on-road vehicles and trail bikes.

Noise exemptions

The Environmental Protection Act 1994 provides exemptions from noise created from traffic signals, railway signals and road noise.

Other government activities that have noise exemptions include:

• road maintenance
• water and sewage service maintenance
• public health risk management.