MOUNT Isa residents are paying almost twice as much for their water per year than residents on the coast.
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Homeowner Kevin Kenna provided bills from properties in Townsville and Mount Isa showing rates to the The North West Star this week .
Both homes were charged for their water usage under their respective residential water rates, but Mr Kenna paid around $600 per year more for water in Mount Isa.
Information from Townsville City Council outlines residents only pay $681 per year for an allowance of 772 kilolitre while residents in Mount Isa pay $1292.80 for a 900kL annual allowance.
Mount Isa residents pay $0.27 more per kilolitre for the same product.
Even if Townsville's fixed price rate was extended to allow for 900kL of usage, resident's would still be charged up to 36 per cent less than if they owned a house in Mount Isa.
Mr Kenna said his general rates were higher in Mount Isa as well, despite paying an additional $433.90 for services in Townsville which North West residents weren't charged for.
"You've got your fire levy and sewerage, but I don't have sewerage in Mount Isa I have septic," he said.
"If you took that out it would make a bigger difference again."
Mount Isa Mayor Tony McGrady said the council absorbed a 7.2 percent water increase from the Mount Isa Water Board this year.
"We just re-sell the product we get from the water board," he said.
"We have a method of charging an equitable rate which we haven't changed since the previous council."
He said residents comparing their water charges with those from other cities weren't comparing apples with apples.
"I've got properties in Brisbane and there are parts on my rates bills that are more and less expensive than Mount Isa," he said.
"If I investigated this I could probably find areas where we are cheaper than other places."
Mr Kenna said he'd like to see in writing which cities in Queensland were more more expensive than Mount Isa.
Mount Isa Water Board Chief Executive Greg Stevens wasn't able to discuss the price of water sold to the Mount Isa City Council but said costs associated with distributing water and maintaining sources had to be accounted for.
"Our combined asset cost is $100 million and we need to constantly maintain that," he said.
"We also have operating costs and consumables like disinfectant and electricity.
"The council has their own assets and staff costs to cover as well."
Mr Stevens said Mount Isa's yearly water allocation was generally quite high but the current pricing structure encouraged people to use their full allocation.
