At a glance

4.3
million people		 Sydney Water is responsible for supplying water, wastewater, recycled water and some stormwater services to nearly 4.3 million people in Sydney, Illawarra and the Blue Mountains. Sydney Water is Australia's largest water utility with an area of operations covering around 12,600 sq km.
1.4
billion litres		 Water services

More than 1.4 billion litres of water is supplied to over 1.7 million homes and businesses each day. Sydney Water buys untreated water from the Sydney Catchment Authority and then treats the water in accordance with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2004.

Most of the water is treated at privately owned filtration plants, operated under contract to Sydney Water. The largest filtration plant at Prospect treats more than 80 per cent of this water. Organic matter, sediment and minerals such as iron and manganese are removed, the water is disinfected with chlorine, and fluoride is added to prevent tooth decay.

Treated water is distributed to customers via a network of about 21,000 km of water mains, 261 reservoirs and 155 pumping stations.
1.3
billion litres		 Wastewater services

Sydney Water collects and treats more than 1.3 billion litres of wastewater a day. The sewerage network consists of about 23,500 km of sewer pipes and 663 sewage-pumping stations. There are 25 separate sewerage systems, each of which is licensed by the Department of Environment and Climate Change.

Collected wastewater is transported to 30 sewage treatment plants where it is treated before being reused or discharged to rivers or the ocean in accordance with licence conditions. Of the thirty treatment plants, there are three storm sewage treatment plants (Fairfield, Bellambi and Port Kembla), which only come online during large storm events, treating excess flows to an acceptable level before discharging to receiving waters.
58
million litres		 Recycled water

Sydney Water recycles almost 58 million litres of wastewater a day. There are a number of water recycling schemes in place that reduce demand on water supplies and discharges of treated wastewater to the environment. At present there are 340 km of recycled water mains though the provision of recycled water is increasing over time.
443
Km		 Stormwater services

Most stormwater channels and drains are the direct responsibility of local councils. Sydney Water manages 443 km of trunk stormwater channels and conduits predominantly in south and south-west Sydney, as well as flood prone areas and trunk drainage at Rouse Hill.

By length, this represents less than 5 per cent of the total metropolitan stormwater network and around 25 per cent of runoff. Approximately 127 billion litres a year is discharged through Sydney Water's trunk drainage system to Port Jackson, the Georges River, Cooks River and Botany Bay.

The different ownership of stormwater assets means partnerships with local councils and/or other parties is needed to coordinate stormwater outcomes such as protection from flood, improving waterway health and amenity, and providing for growth and integrated water cycle opportunities.