Where does water go?

Rainwater runs off hard surfaces into rainwater tanks or stormwater drains, runs across the land as runoff or sinks into the ground.

Find out more about rainwater tanks, stormwater, runoff and groundwater.

The dirty water that people have used is called wastewater or sewage. Wastewater goes down the drains of homes, businesses and industry to the wastewater system.

Find out more about wastewater and where it goes.

Sydney Water pipes wastewater from our homes and schools to sewage treatment plants or water recycling plants. These plants clean the wastewater so it can continue on its journey through the water cycle.

Find out about the sewerage system and how sewage treatment plants work.

What we put down the drain or toilet really matters! Taking care with what we put into the wastewater system can reduce pollution and help the environment.

Find out more about how you can help look after our wastewater system.

Water reuse means using wastewater more than once, usually after it has been treated, otherwise this water would have been wasted. Recycled water is wastewater or stormwater that has been highly treated and returned to the community through special pipes to be used in many different ways.

Find out more about recycled water and how to reuse water safely.