As part of the contract, Veolia will operate and maintain QGC’s three water treatment plants, which will work alongside the natural gas production from the Queensland Curtis LNG project.

The contract, which will last for 20 years , is part of QGC’s $1 billion investment in the treatment of water for reuse by agriculture, industry and towns.

About 55 Veolia staff will be employed to manage the plants.

The two main plants will be able to treat about 200 megalitres of water per day during peak production.

A 6-megalitre treatment plant is already operating near Chinchilla.

QGC operations director Walter Simpson said the contract showed QGC’s steady move to have the site production-ready by 2014.