A consortium has been selected by the City of Sydney to develop a decentralised water master plan for the Local Government Area which would include Australia’s first city-wide recycled water network and significantly reduce demands on drinking water supplies.

 

The consortium, selected after a competitive tender process, comprises engineering consultants GHD, the Institute of Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney and Public Private Partnership Consultants P3iC.

 

It will develop different business models to implement the decentralized water plan including a private sector water services company or a public/private joint venture.


The City of Sydney Local Government Area currently imports 32 gigalitres of drinking quality water each year, the equivalent of 12,800 Olympic pools, mainly from  Warragamba Dam.


An estimated 80 per cent could be supplemented by recycled water including toilet flushing, laundry, air conditioning cooling towers and irrigation.

 

The recycled water network would connect to apartment, commercial and institutional buildings which are responsible for 80 per cent of the water consumption in the LGA. In an Australian first it would allow buildings to take recycled water from the network and to supply any excess recycled water to the network.

 

The water master plan would also outline water efficiency measures to reduce consumption and methods to collect more water locally, such as stormwater harvesting. 


The sources of recycled water could include; treated stormwater, treated water from kitchens and laundries, known as grey water, and cleansed and disinfected black water sourced from sewers.


Grey and or black water recycling systems are already in use at Sydney Olympic Park, the Workplace 6 building in Ultimo, Pennant Hills Golf Club and Kogarah Council. They are also planned for use at the new city office tower under construction at 1 Bligh Street and the proposed new Global Switch data centre in Ultimo.