To support a booming population, meet net zero targets and safeguard its ageing assets, Sydney Water has unveiled a long-term capital delivery plan with customers at its heart.
As Australia’s largest water utility, Sydney Water provides vital services to more than five million people across Sydney, the Illawarra and the Blue Mountains. For 136 years, the utility has evolved alongside the needs of its customers, maintaining and improving its ageing infrastructure and optimising its network to balance efficiency with affordability.
But as the city enters an era of unprecedented change, Sydney Water is facing new challenges that have tested the limits of its network.
Sydney Water Executive General Manager of Infrastructure Delivery, Nicholle Sparkes, explained that Greater Sydney’s population is forecast to increase from five million to eight million by 2056.
“It’s really once in a generation. We need to expand the capacity of our water and wastewater services to meet the demands of that population growth, but we’re also dealing with ageing infrastructure and many of our assets are reaching the end of their operational life,” she said
“Thankfully, they were built to last, and some of our assets have an extraordinary history so a lot of the work we’re doing is to keep them going for as long as we can, as well as supporting our communities and customers with new infrastructure.
“We’re also dealing with climate change like we haven’t previously. The severe weather, prolonged drought and flooding are quite a strain on our existing systems.
“And on top of managing all that, we also have to meet the needs of our customers and their expectations for more reliable, environmentally conscious services – that’s just basic human needs.”
To navigate these complex challenges, Sydney Water developed a new Long Term Capital and Operational Plan (LTCOP), which gives the utility a clear roadmap to deliver the vital infrastructure that will keep its network sustainable and resilient for the next three decades.
“It’s quite an adaptive framework, and it looks to balance cost, risk and service level,” Ms Sparkes said.
“The framework guides $83 billion of investment up to 2050, and $32 billion of that is earmarked for the next decade. It really focuses on decentralising systems so that we’re improving resilience, and then we’re leveraging off innovative technologies to meet the demands of our customers.
“It also really ensures that those investments are aligned with our customer priorities and long-term sustainability goals.”
One step ahead
When developing the LTCOP, Sydney Water carefully evaluated several investment options to ensure that it was able to deliver the best possible outcomes for its customers.
Ms Sparkes explained that Sydney Water undertook extensive studies to inform the LTCOP.
“We’ve engaged with more than 13,000 customers through a program called Our Water, Our Voice, which really helped to align our investment with our customer priorities,” she said.
“Along with the customer engagement, there was a lot of collaboration with government agencies like WaterNSW, NSW Health and NSW Department of Planning & Environment.
Ms Sparkes said that Sydney Water undertook a lot of scenario modelling to assess risks, and stress tested its infrastructure against climate and population forecasts. It also looked at the services levels it provides and how all this would impact cost outcomes.
“It was really well informed, but at the forefront of all this was the cost to our customers, and so that we can make sure that we’re delivering the best outcomes in an economical way.”
What’s in the pipeline?
Ms Sparkes explained that Western Sydney in particular has experienced the highest growth due to major housing developments and the new Western Sydney Aerotropolis. And when the utility factored in the region’s current and projected population increases, the subsequent economic expansion and ongoing greenfield developments, it identified this area as a priority.
“Sydney Water focused on addressing that growth by expanding wastewater treatment capacity and developing decentralised systems and stormwater management solutions. Then on top of that, we’ve got our advanced recycled water scheme to meet environmental and customer needs.” Ms Sparkes said.
By decentralising its water and wastewater systems and disrupting the west-to-east flow, Sydney Water aims to reduce its reliance on some key assets, and therefore avoiding expensive upgrades, strengthening its resilience and lowering long-term costs.
Over the course of 2025, Sydney Water aims to advance the first four key infrastructure projects in under LTCOP:
- The $1.5 billion North West Treatment Hub
- The $1 billion Upper South Creek Networks Program
- The $838 million upgrade and augmentation of the Prospect Pre-Treatment Plant
- A $1.2 billion Advanced Wastewater Recycling Centre to service the new Aerotropolis
Ms Sparkes said that the ongoing design and construction efforts for the North West Treatment Hub was at the top of that list.
“It really supports that rapid population growth and ensures the wastewater management for that booming north-west region,” she said.
“Then, the Upper South Creek Networks Program is really critical for the Aerotropolis and enabling sustainable urban growth within that area. Next, we move out to the Prospect Pre-Treatment Plant, and the upgrade there will improve water quality and reliability for 80 per cent of Sydney’s population.”
The Advanced Wastewater Recycling Centre for the Western Sydney Aerotropolis is also set to reach the completion and commissioning phase in mid-2025.
“That [facility will] enhance water reuse, reduce reliance on rainfall and help to protect our natural resources,” Ms Sparkes said.
Looking ahead to 2033, Ms Sparkes said that Sydney Water has another four projects in the pipeline.
“There’s the Upper Nepean Advanced Water Resource Recovery Facility, which will build resilience in water supply through an innovative treatment program. Then we’ve got the Purified Recycled Water Schemes at Liverpool, Glenfield and Quakers Hill, which will provide drought-proof water supplies and reduce our environmental impacts,” she said.
“[We’ve also got plans for] a water resource recovery facility in Camelia to enhance the treatment capacity in central Sydney, and then the Upper South Creek Water Resource Recovery Facility, which is going to support the greenfield developments and integrate circular economy principles in that Western Sydney area.”
We’re all in this together
With a groundbreaking program of works ahead, the framework provided by the LTCOP is essential for Sydney Water to ensure a smooth and timely delivery of this new infrastructure.
“The initial challenge is securing the funding, we’ve got to navigate current regulatory emerging frameworks and any changes that are happening, and the LTCOP serves as a comprehensive guide to ensure alignment with our stakeholder and customer expectations, and then we use proactive risk management and resource allocation to deliver on that.
“It gives us really clear parameters and guidelines of what we need to do and how we can best deliver to Greater Sydney.
As Sydney Water is implementing innovative new technologies in these projects, the LTCOP also helps the utility to encourage community acceptance with the community and provide customers with a clear picture of the work it’s doing.
“The advanced treatment process for recycled water, I think, is going to be a great piece of innovation that will be important for our customers. On top of that we’re using smart water monitoring to enhance reliability and customer service and digital twins to help optimise our infrastructure performance, [and the LTCOP helps with] community acceptance of these new technologies,” Ms Sparkes said.
According to Ms Sparkes, collaboration is a key value that underpins everything Sydney Water does.
“Through programs like Our Water, Our Voice we ensure that our customers are really shaping the decision making, and we’re leveraging off the expertise of our industry partners to deliver projects efficiently, and then really fostering innovation through that process,” she said.
“Collaboration isn’t just a word that we stick on the wall. When we set up a new project, we work to deliver it together.”
Going with the flow
As priorities, challenges and future trends change over time, the LTCOP will adapt and grow to incorporate emerging technologies and ensure that it meets evolving expectations.
While the LTCOP will undergo a review every 12 months, as well as a major review every five years, Ms Sparkes said that this adaptivity is embedded in Sydney Water’s day-to-day activities.
“We’re constantly updating our climate data and evolving our customer needs – it’s something that goes right across the corporation to ensure that the investment remains responsive to the long-term challenges.
“We’re really thinking ahead, but the crux of all that is to make sure that we are managing to meet our customer’s needs and deliver that economically and affordably.
“Because some of these costs are passed on to our customers, we’ve got to be pragmatic about this approach. I’d say it’s a Sydney Water value that customers are at the heart of everything we do, but really it’s the first and the last question that we ask ourselves – are we sure that this is the right thing for our customers?”
At the end of the day, Ms Sparkes said that the goal of LTCOP was to deliver safe, reliable and affordable water services to its customers.
“By enhancing the water recycling and stormwater management, we’re also reducing emissions and meeting our net zero targets.
“And on top of that we’re creating infrastructure to enable economic growth, and it’s supporting 510,000 jobs,” Ms Sparkes said.
For Ms Sparkes, the LTCOP is about forward thinking, and addressing both today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.
“I think we’ve got a responsibility to do this in a way that lays the foundation for a resilient network. We’re trying to reduce the reliance on rainfall and make sure that the infrastructure that we’re building then adapts to those changing demands.
“It’s about ensuring that Sydney Water remains prepared for the future generations and shaping a sustainable future.”
