Media Release

14 Aug 2007

Report card confirms Sydney Water on the right track

The Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) today released its first annual report card on performance of the Australian urban water industry.

Sydney Water Managing Director Kerry Schott said the report confirms Sydney Water is on the right track in its approach to balance demand and supply. The imbalance is a result of drought, ongoing population growth and climate change.

“The WSAA Report Card notes that rainfall in most catchments that supply our major cities has reduced considerably, and this may continue with climate change,” Dr Schott said.

“The 4.3 million people of Sydney have responded magnificently to the need to save water, reducing their consumption by 13.3 per cent since mandatory restrictions began in October 2003.

“However, around one million more people are forecast to be living here by 2030.

“Sydney Water is already preparing for the water supply challenges outlined in the WSAA Report Card now and in the years ahead, thanks largely to the mix of measures contained in the 2006 Metropolitan Water Plan.

“We already have the two largest water recycling schemes of their kind nationally. One has supplied residential customers at Rouse Hill and surrounding suburbs since 2001.

“The other began delivering quality recycled water to our largest industrial customer BlueScope Steel last September, with over 3 billion litres already provided.

“With other recycling projects either under construction or in the planning stages, the volume of recycled water in greater Sydney is set to jump from the current 22 billion litres each year to 70 billion litres each year by 2015. That is about 12 per cent of Sydney’s water supply,” Dr Schott said.

“The WSAA Report Card notes that water recycling, like desalination, is energy intensive. Higher energy use by urban water utilities needs to be offset through the use of greenhouse gas neutral energy sources.

“Sydney Water has committed that its operations will be carbon neutral by 2020. As early as 2009, 20 per cent of its considerable energy needs will be met in-house through six additional biogas cogeneration plants and four hydroelectric plants.

“Construction is about to start on the 250 million litre per day desalination plant at Kurnell that will supply around 15 per cent of Sydney’s daily water needs. This plant will be 100 per cent powered by renewable energy – likely to be sourced from one or more wind farms,” Dr Schott said.

“Sydney Water is one of the best performing utilities in Australia and the world when it comes to managing leaks and breaks in its 21,000 kilometre network of water mains. This effort includes scanning more than 18,000 kilometres each year for hidden faults – which are then repaired.

“The WSAA Report Card offers perspective on this achievement - observing that in 2005 the lower performers in leakage in the Australian urban water industry were equal to the best performers in leakage in Europe, North America, the United Kingdom and South Africa.

“Sydney Water also remains an industry leader in demand management, having developed a number of successful water conservation programs since the early 1990s. More than 429,000 households have benefited from a WaterFix water efficient plumbing installation since 2000 for example, and over 36,000 customers have received rainwater tank rebates since 2002.

“Authors of the WSAA Report Card were suitably impressed by Sydney Water’s performance in this area – noting that Sydney uses the same amount of water as it did in 1974 even though it now has one million more people,” Dr Schott said.

 

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