Desalination

Desalination is an extra source of water that doesn't rely on rain. Everyone benefits because it means more water in the dams and a secure supply.

Providing up to 15% of Sydney's water supply

Water from the desalination plant at Kurnell will reach up to 1.5 million people as part or all of their water supply.

While desalination can provide up to 15% of Sydney's water supply needs, Sydney Water has designed the plant so it can be quickly upgraded to twice its size, or 30% of our water supply needs if necessary.

Water from the plant will be introduced at a low volume and slowly ramped up to a maximum capacity of 250 million litres a day.

The plant operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Ensuring water quality

Water from the desalination plant, like dam water, is treated to meet Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and is regulated by NSW Health.

These guidelines are set by the Commonwealth and State governments, and cover public health and aesthetic qualities.

A comparison of the water quality parameters from a number of sources can be found here (PDF - 39KB) .

Powered by renewable energy

A 67-turbine wind farm at Bungendore in NSW has been purpose-built to generate enough renewable energy to offset the energy use of the plant.

The yearly generation capacity of the wind farm is greater than the yearly energy use at the desalination plant.

Built and owned by Infigen Energy and known as Capital wind farm, it will increase the supply of wind energy in NSW by over 700%.

Learn more about renewable energy.

Protecting the environment

An important part of the project was to keep any environmental impacts - both on land and in the water - to a minimum.

To support this, Sydney Water has in place one of the most stringent marine environment monitoring programs of its kind.

We have monitored the marine environment for the past three years and will continue to monitor for three more years. This means we can detect and respond to any changes.

On land, a third of the plant site at Kurnell has been kept as a conservation area. This 15-hectare area will remain protected and monitoring of native species will continue.

How desalination works?

You can view an animation (WMV - 28817KB) of Sydney's desalination plant in action.

Desalination around the world

In Australia, most states either have built or are in the process of building a desalination plant. It is now nationally recognised that we can't solely rely on rainfall for a secure water supply.

Globally, there are over 3,500 land-based desalination plants in more than 160 countries. The quality of the water produced varies, depending on its purpose. Unlike Sydney, many plants are built to improve the quality of the existing water supply.

Comparative operating costs

The Sydney Desalination Plant is currently operated by Veolia Water Australia under contract with a wholly owned subsidiary of Sydney Water - Sydney Desalination Plant Pty Ltd.

Audited financial statements for Sydney Desalination Plant Pty Ltd are published in Sydney Water's Annual Report.

Read the fact sheet of comparative operating costs for the desalination plant (PDF - 357KB) .

Desalination project documents

In November 2006, the Minister for Planning gave concept approval for the desalination project and project approval for the desalination plant at Kurnell and the seawater intake and outlet structures. Approval for the pipeline was given in October 2007.

More details on project approvals, compliance tracking, environmental management plans and project contracts can be found in the overall project documentation.