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Recycling Water For Homes

Imagine living in a suburb where the water you use in the garden was used once before in kitchens and showers. Well, in some areas of Sydney, residents are doing just that.

Across greater Sydney recycled water is provided for home use in:

• Rouse Hill Recycled Water Area
• Sydney Olympic Park and Newington (Sydney Olympic Park Authority)
• The Hoxton Park new release area, under construction by Sydney Water near between Liverpool and Campbelltown
• Ropes Crossing, under construction near St Marys.

In addition, as part of the Metropolitan Water Plan, the NSW Government will provide recycled water to 160,000 homes to be built in new suburbs in Sydney's north west and south west.

The best opportunity for large scale water recycling is in new suburbs, where recycled water pipelines can be constructed at the same time as drinking water mains.

Building Sustainability Index (BASIX)

Another key Government initiative is the Building Sustainability Index (BASIX). BASIX encourages water recycling, rainwater tanks, and water saving showerheads, taps and toilets to improve the water efficiency of all newly built homes by a compulsory 40 per cent. This will increase the demand for recycled water by an estimated 30 billion litres per year by 2020.

What you can do

You can help too. Individual households can save our precious drinking water by installing rainwater tanks and diverting greywater from showers, basins, baths and washing machines for garden and other uses.