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How we reuse water
Wastewater that's been used in homes and businesses can be recycled and treated so it's clean and safe. We put it through a multi-step treatment process to remove impurities and ensure it's safe for its intended purpose. The purified water can be used in homes and businesses, in industry, to irrigate parks, farms and playing fields, and for river health.
What's included in our recycled water network
We own and operate:
- 14 water resource recovery facilities, including 2 operated by other companies on our behalf – Veolia operates our Gerringong-Gerroa facility, and Deerubbin Water Futures operates the St Marys Advanced Water Treatment Plant
- 776 kilometres of recycled water mains
- 9 recycled water reservoirs
- 11 recycled water pumping stations.
Our water resource recovery facilities treat wastewater to a high level, according to the strict standards in the Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling. This ensures recycled water is safe and suitable for its intended use.
9 recycled water reservoirs supply recycled water to residential areas.
Recycled water can be used to irrigate golf courses.
How recycled water can be used
Recycled water can be used to:
- water gardens, golf courses and parks
- flush toilets
- wash cars
- fight fires.
It can also be used for some industrial purposes and to supplement river flow.
Find out about producing recycled water, and how recycled water is used in homes and businesses, and to support river health.
Find out about our projects that recycle water using Sewer mining (970KB) and Stormwater harvesting (1.5MB).
How we recycle water
All our water resource recovery facilities use multiple steps to treat wastewater so it can be safely used again. The level of treatment provided depends on how the recycled water will be used. There are 4 main stages of wastewater treatment used in producing recycled water:
- Primary treatment, which involves physical screens and grit removal.
- Secondary treatment, which generally involves nutrient removal (using anoxic/aerobic biological reactors or Intermittently Decanted Aerated Lagoons and clarification.
- Tertiary treatment, which may involve coagulation and flocculation, clarification, media filtration and disinfection (chlorination and/or UV disinfection).
- Advanced tertiary treatment, which may include ultrafiltration or microfiltration, and include reverse osmosis plus disinfecton.
14 facilities treat recycled water so it's fit for purpose.
Water resource recovery facility locations
Water resource treatment facility |
Treatment level | Discharge (ML/day) | Discharge location |
|---|---|---|---|
Bombo |
Secondary and de-nitrification and disinfection |
3.7 |
Headland north of Bombo Beach Supplies to Minnamurra Golf Club |
Castle Hill |
Tertiary |
6.5 |
Cattai Creek Supplies to Castle Hill Country Club |
Gerringong-Gerroa |
Partial tertiary |
1.26 |
Reused for on-site agricultural irrigation Excess discharged to sand dune systems Once sand dunes reach capacity, excess is discharged to Crooked River |
Glenfield |
Partial tertiary |
0 |
Treated wastewater transported to Malabar Occasionally discharged to Georges River in wet weather |
Liverpool |
Secondary |
0 |
Treated wastewater transported to Malabar Reused at Liverpool Golf Course and Warwick Farm Race Course Also supplies to Fairfield Water Resource Recovery Facility (operated by Aquanet and Veolia Water) under Rosehill Recycled Water Scheme Occasionally discharged to Georges River in wet weather |
Picton |
Tertiary |
1.5 |
Reused on-site for agricultural irrigation precautionary discharge to Stone Quarry Creek |
Penrith |
Tertiary |
23.1 |
Reused locally Remainder transferred to St Marys Advanced Water Treatment Plant Some excess discharged to Boundary Creek |
Quakers Hill |
Tertiary |
35.4 |
Reused locally Remainder transferred to St Marys Advanced Water Treatment Plant Some excess discharged to Breakfast Creek |
Richmond |
Tertiary |
2.2 |
Reused for irrigation at University of Western Sydney – Richmond Campus Also reused for irrigation at Richmond Golf Course Excess overflows to Rickabys Creek |
Rouse Hill |
Tertiary |
15.3 |
Recycled back to households for non-drinking use Excess discharged to Second Ponds Creek via wetlands to Cattai Creek |
St Marys |
Tertiary |
39.2 |
Reused locally and at Dunheved Remainder transferred to St Marys Advanced Water Treatment Plant Some excess discharged to South Creek |
West Camden |
Tertiary |
13.1 |
Reused at Agricultural Institute Remainder discharged via Matahill Creek to the Nepean River |
Wollongong |
Tertiary and disinfection |
49.84 |
Reused at BlueScope Steel Remainder discharged via offshore outfall with diffuser zone |
St Marys Advanced Water Treatment Plant |
Reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration |
42 |
Receives flow from St Marys, Quakers Hill and Penrith water resource recovery facilities to produce highly treated water discharged to Boundary Creek under Western Sydney Replacement Flows Recycled Water Scheme |
How we monitor recycled water quality
We do routine checks on the quality of our recycled water. Our customers may use recycled water for:
- industrial purposes
- irrigation
- approved uses in some residential areas, for example, the Rouse Hill residential scheme.
We check that the water:
- is treated to the right level, based on its intended use
- meets the standards in the Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling.
We test recycled water to ensure it's treated to an appropriate standard for its intended use.