

Choose Tap
The City of Gold Coast is helping customers to enjoy a healthy, environmentally-friendly and low-cost community lifestyle through its Choose Tap program.
The Choose Tap message is simple: tap water is the best choice for your health, the environment and your hip pocket. Additionally, by reusing a personal water bottle, drinking tap water is a convenient alternative to purchasing bottled water.
The benefits of choosing tap
Our tap water is significantly cheaper, 649 times cheaper in fact, than the average plastic bottle of water (our average cost per litre is $0.0039, whereas the average bottle of water from supermarkets costs $2.53 per litre).
From an environmental perspective, results from a study completed by Healthy Land and Water in 2014-15, showed water bottles were among the three highest items of litter throughout our waterways.
Choose Tap also plays a valuable role supporting community sport, local festivals, education, parks and gardens, the health sector, the business sector and cafes and restaurants.
Water quality
Providing our customers and community with safe, reliable, high-quality drinking water is our priority. Our scientific staff conduct comprehensive water monitoring through regular sampling and testing to achieve this. The City’s water is among the highest quality and continues to meet the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2011. For more information on our water quality and testing, visit the Water quality page.
Water refill points
Water refill stations are being installed in public spaces across the Gold Coast so adults and children have access to free drinking water where they need it most. Keep a look out at your favourite location for one of our hydration stations and make sure to bring you own water bottle to refill!
Twenty permanent water refill points consisting of water bubblers and two bottle-filling nozzles, have been installed at prominent Gold Coast locations to increase accessibility to tap water for public consumption. Be Smart, Choose Tap.
Completed installations are located at:
- Botanic Gardens, Benowa
- Kurrawa Park, Broadbeach
- Pratten Park, Broadbeach
- Victoria Park, Broadbeach
- John Laws Park, Burleigh Heads
- Justins Park (north), Burleigh Heads
- Coomera Indoor Sports Centre, Coomera
- Pacific Parade, Currumbin
- Harley Park, Labrador
- Ed Hardy Park, Miami
- Damian Leeding Park, Oxenford
- Paradise Point Parklands, Paradise Point
- Pat Fagan Park, Rainbow Bay
- Cavill Mall, Surfers Paradise
- Esplanade, Surfers Paradise
- Macintosh Island Park, Surfers Paradise
- Broadwater Parklands, Southport
- Soccer Lane, Southport
- Tallebudgera Creek, Tallebudgera
- Varsity Lakes Foreshore Parklands, Varsity Lakes
For locations through out Australia visit the 'Choose Tap' national Tap Finder page.
Portable 'Choose Tap' hydration stations for events
Choose Tap at your next Gold Coast event.
As part of our commitment to promoting our high quality drinking water and reducing single use plastic bottles, the City of Gold Coast can provide portable hydration stations for free water refills at local events.
Community groups and event organisers on the Gold Coast now have the opportunity to access portable hydration stations for use at local community events. The loan of stations is free for eligible events - see eligibility criteria below.
Eligibility criteria
Each request to loan portable hydration stations will be assessed on a case-by-case basis using the following criteria (confirmed bookings are dependent on the availability of units). You must meet all of these requirements to be eligible to loan a portable hydration station:
- for use at Gold Coast not-for-profit community events only with at least 500 people expected (no private parties)
- for use at local clean-up events by request
- current public liability insurance of $10 million
- location must allow for easy access to mains water and water tap connection (units must be situated within five metres of a mains water tap)
- set-up location must allow for adequate drainage
- a minimum of two weeks notice is required
- event organisers agree to be responsible for promoting drinking tap water and the location of hydration stations
- event organisers agree to be responsible for the safe transportation of the units.
Make a booking enquiry using the online form below.
Despite being blessed with some of the finest drinking water in the world, Australians are consuming more bottled water than ever before, creating mountains of problematic plastic waste.
Did you know?
- The average Australian uses 130 kilograms of plastic per year.
- Plastic bottles are among the 10 most common rubbish items picked up on Clean up Australia Day.
- Less than 20% of plastic gets recycled, with 80 per cent ending up as landfill or litter.
- Over 90% of the cost of a bottle can be traced back to the bottle, lid or label.
So next time your're thirsty, make the sustainable choice and Choose Tap.
Download the Choose Tap brochure.
Related information
Jump to key information- Libraries
- Media Centre
- Find a park
- Alerts
- Find a waste centre
- Report a problem
- Contact us
- Forms & applications
- Events
- Have your say
- Payments
- Permits & licensing
- Disaster management
- Community Directory