Northern Beaches Storage Project

Reducing wastewater overflows

Sydney Water is improving the wastewater system in the northern beaches to protect public health and the environment.

A key project in the area is the Northern Beaches Storage Project (NBSP). It is part of Sydney Water's $560 million SewerFix Program and will reduce the frequency of wastewater overflows to local waterways in heavy wet weather.

What is the Northern Beaches Storage Project (NBSP) ?

Currently, during heavy rain, stormwater enters the wastewater system through cracks in pipes or illegal stormwater connections. In very wet weather, the dilute wastewater builds up in the Narrabeen Submain and other local pipes until they are forced to overflow to local drains, creeks, lagoons and beaches.

The Narrabeen Submain starts in Dee Why and travels through Brookvale to North Head Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Sydney Water is building a large storage tank at 27 Sydenham Road, Brookvale. The tank will fill with up to 18 million litres of excess, dilute wastewater diverted from the Narrabeen Submain during heavy rain. The tank will store the wastewater for up to a week and empty it back into the submain when the rain stops.

Together with other local Sydney Water projects on the northern beaches, the NBSP will reduce the frequency of wastewater overflows during wet weather to less than 20 events in 10 years. This target has been agreed with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) formerly the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.

Building the NBSP

In August 2011, Sydney Water’s Board approved construction of the NBSP. The SewerFix Wet Weather Alliance is building the NBSP. The Alliance is a partnership between Sydney Water, Manidis Roberts, MWH, Parsons Brinckerhoff and UGL Infrastructure.

Construction started on Friday 23 September 2011. The project should be finished by mid 2013.

During construction, we will:

• let residents and businesses near our site know about four weeks before starting a new section of work
• send residents and businesses near our site regular community updates to keep them up to date on our progress
• let residents and businesses near our site know before we start any work that is very disruptive
• continue to work one-on-one with businesses potentially affected by our construction
• regularly update this website with new information.

Our work with the community so far

Sydney Water has been consulting the community and stakeholders, like Warringah Council, since the early design stages.

We formed a Community Reference Group to provide us with comments and feedback on the design, construction and architectural aspects of the NBSP.

We will continue to work with our local community during construction to minimise the impact of our project on local businesses and residents