Qld desalination plant to start in July

The Queensland government says it expects a $1.2 billion desalination plant on the Gold Coast to be operating by the end of this month.

Government-owned company WaterSecure was expected to take over the Tugun-based plant once it achieved 100 per cent capacity on January 15.

But two days before that, the government announced the plant would not meet the deadline because of problems with pipe couplings, valves and hoses among other issues.

The timetable was revised to 33 per cent production by February and 100 per cent in March, followed by a four to five week shutdown from April to fix the faults.

WaterSecure then commissioned an independent report, released on Thursday, which found more than a dozen faults with the plant - which is the largest on Australia's east coast.

Infrastructure Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said none of the faults would affect the plant's operation, but rather its durability, longevity and environmental efficiency.

He said it had already produced 4.5 billion litres of water and he expected it to be handed over to WaterSecure later this month.

However, Mr Hinchliffe said the government had asked for the faults to be fixed and WaterSecure would accept handover of the Tugun plant only when it was free of major defects or, where a defect could not be made good, after reaching a commercial settlement.

WaterSecure is also getting advice on possible legal remedies.

Mr Hinchliffe said there would be no extra cost to taxpayers for fixing the faults, but running costs could go up because of problems with the efficiency of motors.

WaterSecure chief executive Keith Davies said the water produced to date was safe to drink and there were no public health concerns from the faults.

Mr Davies said the plant could move to a "reliability trial" this month even if all the faults were not fixed straight away.

Opposition infrastructure spokesman David Gibson said the government had failed to plan and manage the project.

"This is just the latest in a long line of infrastructure disasters from the Bligh Labor government," Mr Gibson said.

"The Bligh Labor government has spent billions of dollars rushing to build water infrastructure in a mad panic after doing nothing for a decade, but they just can't get it right."