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Water resource recovery facilities

Wastewater doesn't have to go to waste

Learn more about our water resource recovery facilities, and how they treat wastewater before it's recovered, recycled, reused or discharged to waterways.

We've finalised our projected reductions in wastewater discharges
We estimate that by 2030 water conservation measures will prevent an additional 15 billion litres of wastewater a year being discharged to Sydney's rivers and oceans. Thank you to customers who provided feedback during our public consultation period. Find out more from our Projected reduction in wastewater discharge to 2030 fact sheet.

How we treat wastewater

What we do at each facility

How we treat wastewater

Treated wastewater from bathrooms, laundries and kitchens is a valuable resource that can be safely used again in many ways. We use multiple steps to treat wastewater and remove impurities to produce recycled water. How much we treat the wastewater depends on how the recycled water will be used.

There are 4 main types of treatment, plus disinfection:

Primary treatment involves screening and sedimentation of the wastewater to remove large solids and grit.
Secondary treatment includes biological treatment using microorganisms to reduce nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous.
Tertiary treatment removes nearly all biodegradable and suspended matter to further improve quality.
Advanced tertiary treatment uses ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis processes. Microfiltration or ultrafiltration uses hollow fibres to remove some fine particles, bacteria and viruses. Reverse osmosis further improves the quality of the water by removing viruses, nutrients and dissolved salts at high pressure (using fine barrier membranes). Reverse osmosis filters are so fine they can trap particles smaller than one 10 millionth of a millimetre.
Disinfection is the last step for all types of recycled water. The water is disinfected by chlorination, ultraviolet light, or both processes.

Our facilities treat wastewater to a standard that is suitable and safe for its intended use, and to ensure it meets the required water quality level for discharge to the environment – including creeks, rivers and the ocean.

The treatment level needed depends on:

the location of the facility
where the treated wastewater will be discharged or reused
the nature of the facility's catchment area, including wastewater quality.

We follow strict Environment Protection Licence (EPL) conditions issued by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). The EPA monitors the effect of treated wastewater and recycled water discharges on water quality and aquatic life.

See where our wastewater systems are located using our wastewater systems map.

What we do at each facility

All of our facilities recycle water, reuse by-products, or generate some of the energy they need to do their job. There are lots of ways we recover, recycle and reuse wastewater. Details in the table below are current for 2024–2025.

ML = megalitres, or million litres

Facility	Wastewater treatment level	Recovered resources	Avg. dry weather discharge of treated wastewater to waterway	EPL waterways discharge volume limit¹	Treated wastewater – waterway discharge location	Recycled water – type of use, supply location, waterway discharge location
Bellambi^2,3	Primary	N/A	0 ML/day	Refer to Wollongong	Bellambi Point during wet weather.	N/A
Bingara Gorge (Wilton)	Tertiary	Recycled water	0 ML/day	3 ML/day	Occasional discharge to Stringybark Creek.	Supplied to homes and businesses in Bingara Gorge estate for non‑drinking use. Also supplied to and used at Bingara Gorge Golf Course, as well as parks and green space within the estate. Excess occasionally discharged to Stringybark Creek.
Bombo	Secondary	Recycled water Biosolids	4 ML/day	45 ML/day	Bombo Point as ocean outfall.	Supplied to and used at Kiama Golf Club.
Bondi	Primary	Biosolids Renewable energy	112.76 ML/day	680 ML/day	As deepwater ocean outfall 2.2 km from the shoreline with 63 m maximum water depth and 512 m diffuser zone.	N/A
Brooklyn	Tertiary	N/A	0.3 ML/day	2.14 ML/day	Hawkesbury-Nepean River at 14 m depth – located on second pylon of the old road bridge, adjacent to Kangaroo Point.	N/A
Castle Hill	Tertiary	Recycled water	5.7 ML/day	80 ML/day	Cattai Creek.	Supplied to and used at Castle Hill Country Club.
Cronulla	Tertiary	Biosolids Renewable energy	55.3 ML/day	432 ML/day	Potter Point, Kurnell, as ocean outfall.	Used locally on-site for industrial purposes.
Fairfield^2,4	Primary (stormwater treatment)	N/A	0 ML/day	Refer to Malabar	Occasional discharge to Georges River via Orphan School Creek during wet weather.	N/A
Gerringong-Gerroa	Tertiary	Recycled water	0 ML/day	0.8 ML/day (sand dunes)	Sand dune systems. When the discharge volume limit to sand dunes reaches capacity, discharges go to Crooked River.	Used for agricultural irrigation at Aorangi Farm. Excess discharged to sand dunes. When the discharge volume limit to sand dunes reaches capacity, discharges go to Crooked River.
Glenfield⁴	Secondary	Biosolids Renewable energy	0 ML/day	Refer to Malabar	Transported to Malabar. Occasional discharge to Georges River in wet weather.	N/A
Hornsby Heights	Tertiary	Biosolids	6 ML/day	85 ML/day	Berowra Creek via Calna Creek.	N/A
Liverpool⁴	Secondary	Recycled water Biosolids Renewable energy	0 ML/day	Refer to Malabar	Transported to Malabar. Also supplied to Fairfield (operated by Aquanet and Veolia Water) under Rosehill Recycled Water Scheme. Occasional discharge to Georges River in wet weather.	Supplied to and used at Liverpool Golf Club and Warwick Farm Racecourse.
Malabar	Primary	Biosolids Biogas Renewable energy	493 ML/day	1,199 ML/day	As deepwater ocean outfall 3.6 km from shoreline – with 82 m maximum water depth and 720 m diffuser zone.	N/A
North Head	Primary	Recycled water Biosolids Renewable energy	345 ML/day	1,400 ML/day	As deepwater ocean outfall 3.8 km from shoreline – with 60 m approximate water depth and 763 m diffuser zone.	Used locally on-site for industrial purposes.
North Richmond	Tertiary	N/A	1.2 ML/day	11.2 ML/day	Hawkesbury-Nepean River via Redbank Creek.	N/A
Penrith⁵	Tertiary	Recycled water Biosolids	24.7 ML/day	238 ML/day	Excess designed to be discharged via Boundary Creek to Hawkesbury-Nepean River.	Used locally on-site for industrial purposes. Also supplied to and used at Penrith City Council parks and sports fields. Remaining recycled water transferred to St Marys Advanced Water Treatment Plant.
Picton	Tertiary	Recycled water Biosolids	2.5 ML/day	15 ML/day	Precautionary treated wastewater and wet weather overflows discharged to Stonequarry Creek.	Used on-site for agricultural irrigation.
Port Kembla^2,3	Primary	N/A	0 ML/day	Refer to Wollongong	Red Point headland during wet weather.	N/A
Quakers Hill	Tertiary	Recycled water Biosolids	41.26 ML/day	281.2 ML/day	Excess discharged via Breakfast Creek to Eastern Creek.	Supplied to and used at Stonecutters Ridge Golf Club.
Richmond	Tertiary	Recycled water Biosolids	1.5 ML/day	20.1 ML/day	Excess discharged to Rickabys Creek.	Supplied to and used at University of Western Sydney (Hawkesbury Campus) and Richmond Golf Club. Also used to irrigate our Eucalyptus plantation next to the facility (used by Taronga Zoo).
Riverstone	Tertiary	Biosolids	15.4 ML/day	104 ML/day	South Creek via Eastern Creek.	N/A
Rouse Hill	Tertiary	Recycled water Biosolids	19.83 ML/day	151 ML/day	Excess discharged to Second Ponds Creek via wetlands to Cattai Creek.	Used locally on-site for industrial purposes. Also supplied to homes and businesses in Rouse Hill area for non‑drinking use.
Shellharbour	Secondary	Biosolids	19.64 ML/day	170 ML/day	Discharged via an offshore outfall 130 m from Barrack Point with a diffuser zone.	N/A
St Marys⁵	Tertiary	Recycled water Biosolids Renewable energy	29.56 ML/day	250 ML/day	Excess discharged to South Creek via an unnamed creek.	Used locally on-site for industrial purposes. Also supplied to and used at Dunheved Golf Club. Any remaining recycled water transferred to St Marys Advanced Water Treatment Plant.
St Marys Advanced Water Treatment Plant⁵	Advanced tertiary	Recycled water	50 ML/day	55 ML/day	Environmental flows discharged to Boundary Creek under the Western Sydney Replacement Flows Recycled Water Scheme.	Facility receives tertiary treated recycled water from St Marys, Quakers Hill and Penrith to produce highly treated advanced tertiary recycled water.
Wallacia	Tertiary	Biosolids	1 ML/day	15 ML/day	Discharged to Hawkesbury-Nepean River via Warragamba River.	N/A
Warriewood	Secondary	Biosolids Renewable energy	17.43 ML/day	125 ML/day	Discharged at Turimetta Head via ocean outfall.	N/A
West Camden	Tertiary	Recycled water Biosolids	21.82 ML/day	120 ML/day	Excess discharged to Hawkesbury-Nepean River via Matahill Creek.	Supplied to and used at Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute, Glendon Brae Pastoral Company and A Smart Farmer. Also supplied to and used at Camden Council sports fields.
West Hornsby	Tertiary	Biosolids	12.0 ML/day	154.3 ML/day	Berowra Creek via Waitara Creek.	N/A
Winmalee	Tertiary	Biosolids	18 ML/day	330 ML/day	Hawkesbury-Nepean River via an unnamed creek.	N/A
Wollongong	Tertiary and Advanced tertiary	Recycled water Biosolids	36.27 ML/day	320 ML/day	Excess discharged at Coniston Beach as offshore ocean outfall.	Used locally on-site for industrial purposes. Tertiary treated recycled water supplied to and used at Port Kembla Coal Terminal, Wollongong Golf Club and Wollongong City Council sports fields. Advanced tertiary treated recycled water supplied to and used at BlueScope Steel.

Less than 1% of Sydney's wastewater is discharged to the ocean untreated, at Vaucluse, Diamond Bay and Diamond Bay South. The Refresh Vaucluse Diamond Bay project will ensure that all wastewater is treated at Bondi Water Resource Recovery Facility in the future.

Discharge volume limit is specified in environment protection licence issued by NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA).
Bellambi, Port Kembla and Fairfield facilities only receive flow during storm events.
Port Kembla and Bellambi facilities are part of the Wollongong system.
Fairfield, Glenfield and Liverpool facilities are part of the Malabar system.
St Marys Advanced Water Treatment Plant is not in use while restoration work is being completed at Boundary Creek. Treated wastewater discharged during dry weather from Penrith and St Marys facilities is being diverted to an unnamed creek that flows to South Creek.