Sydney Water, New South Wales, Australia – Exploring Reservoir Augmentation Program, could supply millions of people
Sydney Water has been providing world-class water services to Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra for over 135 years, but with climate change and an increased demand on our services, we need to think about water differently.
Sydney currently relies on rainfall for over 85% of its water supply, the other 15% comes from desalination. Dams have serviced our city well for more than 100 years, but we can’t rely on rainfall alone to meet the needs of our customers. We need to ensure we have a sustainable, reliable and safe water supply, that is independent of rainfall. This involves good water planning and looking at a range of water supply options.
Our Purified Recycled Water Discovery Centre opened in October 2023. The facility is the first of its kind in New South Wales, Australia, and plays a vital role in helping to secure Greater Sydney’s water supply for the future. It gives the community the opportunity to see how some purified recycled water treatment technology works. It also highlights the safety of this proven technology and the range of environmental and cost benefits of using purified recycled water to supplement our drinking water supply. The facility has been designed to produce 0.5 million litres per day (0.13 million gallons per day), which is between five to six litres per second.
Water from the Discovery Centre will be sent back to the Water Resource Recovery Facility or utilised on site for irrigation. Once regulatory requirements and stakeholder consent are achieved, it will be the water source for the local recycled water scheme when completed.
Water from the Discovery Centre does not contribute to Sydney’s drinking water supply. A future decision to include purified recycled water in the drinking water supply would include community consultation and require stringent Government approvals.
Purified Recycled Water – Preparing for Tomorrow, Today
What is Purified Recycled Water?
Future Proofing our Water Supply
Future proofing Greater Sydney’s water supply
PRW Discovery Centre animation