Service difficulties
and emergency
service: 13 20 90
Sydney Water's operating licence 2005 - 2010
Sydney Water's Operating Licence enables Sydney Water to undertake the provision of water, wastewater, recycled water and some stormwater services in the Sydney, Illawarra and Blue Mountains region. The current Licence is effective from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2010.
The Operating Licence reflects public expectations of Sydney Water's performance and provides key regulatory drivers to ensure that Sydney Water maximises the community's investment in line with its objectives to protect public health, protect the environment and be a successful business. The Operating Licence sets out:
- Drinking water (health and aesthetic) requirements;
- Infrastructure performance requirements;
- Customer and consumer rights;
- System performance standards (continuity, water pressure & sewage overflows);
- Water conservation targets, demand management and recycling requirements;
- Environment - indicators & management;
- The Customer Contract.
The 2005-2010 Operating Licence built upon the previous Licence through the inclusion of:
- Targets for leakage reduction and mains break response times;
- Targets for reducing potable water use and introduction of water efficiency audits at Sewage Treatment Plants;
- An examination of costs, benefits and challenges of individual metering for multi-unit dwellings;
- Priority Sewerage Program completion and connection eligibility requirements;
- Evaluation and audit of Asset Management;
- Indicators of environmental performance, customer service and service quality and system performance;
- Requirements for an ISO certified Environmental Management System; and
- Risk-based auditing regimes.
Another key change to the 2005-2010 Operating Licence is that there is no requirement to conduct a mid-term Licence review.
Sydney Water's performance under the Operating Licence is assessed by an annual operational audit that is managed by Sydney Water's Licence Regulator, The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). The Operating Licence specifies the range of matters on which Sydney Water must report on. An annual audit of Sydney Water's performance is conducted by IPART and presented to the Minister for Energy and Utilities, who is in turn required to table this advice in Parliament.