With growth presenting both exciting opportunities and new challenges in South Australia, SA Water Chief Executive, David Ryan, offers a glimpse into the incredible work the utility is doing to deliver a secure water future.
Since 2022–23, South Australia became home to around 60,0001 more people, and by 2051, the population of Greater Adelaide is forecast to increase by a whopping 46 per cent2.
To support this significant growth, the South Australian Government has created the Housing Roadmap, which outlines a plan to tackle housing challenges and help the next generation of homeowners break into the market.
It forges a path towards a very bright future for the state, but the backbone of a thriving community is our most precious resource – water.
Water security and housing demand are inseparably linked; and despite climate change and cost-of-living pressures throwing additional hurdles into the mix, SA Water is rising to the challenge to deliver an unprecedented network investment that will underpin South Australia’s growth.
Investing in the next generation
SA Water Chief Executive, David Ryan, explained that the utility has several key hurdles to overcome the next five years – but equally there’s a lot of excitement and opportunity in the road ahead.
“I think a lot of our challenges are very similar to not only most water businesses, but most infrastructure businesses across the country, and certainly water security in a drying climate is something we’re all working through,” he said.
“But we’re in a very dry period here in South Australia – and many of our customers are feeling the pinch.
“We’re acutely aware of that – we were temporarily running the Adelaide Desalination Plant at higher production rates, and relying upon the River Murray and our dams.”
Another key priority for SA Water is ensuring its network can meet demand – not just today but for the next generation too.
“Like many water businesses, our infrastructure has been in the ground for a long time. It’s served us really well, but much of it is coming up to be renewed,” Mr Ryan said.
“So, there’s both a big spend and a challenge to deliver all of that into the future. We’ve also got great opportunities around growth and how we service growth, and there’s a real sense of optimism in the state.
“With lots of big infrastructure projects, we also require housing for people – not just existing residents, but also new people coming into the state to work on those projects.
“And all of this is happening in a real cost-of-living challenge, not only for South Australians, but right across the country. So, we’re working really hard to be able to support growth and water security challenges, which all require a lot of investment, and at the same time we’re trying to keep bills as low as reasonably possible.”
To meet these challenges head on, SA Water has unveiled a landmark $3.3 billion capital program over the next four years, with a significant portion dedicated to increasing the capacity of South Australia’s water and sewer networks.
“Thankfully, we’ve seen some really significant investment over the last 12 months – which will carry on over the next three to four years – where our capital program has basically doubled,” Mr Ryan said.
“Through the [South Australian] Government’s Housing Roadmap, we’ve had around $1.5 billion of investment to be able to service growth, as well as a lot of investment to be able to maintain and upgrade ageing infrastructure.
“The time for this investment is now, and we’re seeing a real commitment in the state for that to happen. But at the same time, we’re also talking about what happens beyond these four years.”
Mr Ryan explained that with this commitment from the South Australian Government, SA Water can deliver key network upgrades to support the water demands of a growing population and unlock a potential 40,000 new allotments across the state.
“Many of the improvements we’re making and the new infrastructure we’re putting in the ground now is not only for existing customers – it’s for future generations,” he said.
“The decisions that we make now will have impacts on our customers’ grandchildren, their grandchildren, and beyond.”
What’s in the pipeline?
While a hotter, drier climate and increased demand is reducing available water supplies in many different regions across the state, Mr Ryan highlighted the Eyre Peninsula as a key focus area for water security.
“The community across the whole peninsula relies predominantly upon an aquifer system, which is under a lot of pressure,” he said.
“So [as part of our capital program] we’re looking to supplement that system with a desalination plant – the Eyre Peninsula Desalination Project – and that will help us tackle a really acute water threat over there on the Peninsula.”
Early works for this project are well underway, with the plant expected to deliver first water in mid-2026.
Mr Ryan said that over the next four years SA Water has a significant pipeline of key projects to accommodate growth and ensure it can continue to support existing customers.
“The decisions that we make now will have impacts on our customers’ grandchildren, their grandchildren, and beyond.”
“We’re doing some major upgrades to our largest wastewater treatment plant, located at Bolivar. This will increase its capacity and performance, and it’s the first of a multi-staged upgrade to that really important asset,” he said.
“We’ve also got ongoing renewal projects across our network for both water and wastewater services, and one of the major ones is the replacement of significant portions of the Morgan to Whyalla Pipeline.”
SA Water is also playing a key role in enabling many of the state’s big infrastructure projects.
“South Australia is building a new women’s and children’s hospital, which will require changes to our water and wastewater network,” Mr Ryan said.
SA Water is also helping to deliver another important piece of critical infrastructure for the state – the River Torrens to Darlington (T2D) Project.
Construction of this $15.4 billion upgrade is set to begin in 2025, and it will complete 78km of non-stop, traffic light-free motorway between Gawler and Old Noarlunga in South Australia. The T2D project encompasses two separate tunnels that will be connected by an open motorway – and Mr Ryan explained that these major works are being supported by SA Water.
“It’s a major tunnel project that we’re doing over here as a state, and we’re heavily involved, particularly around the relocation of existing assets,” he said.
Working together
This $3.3 billion capital program is a once-in-a-generation investment, and delivering these major projects would be impossible without a strong, skilled and dedicated team behind it.
“We’re seeing lots of organisations who are really excited about the program of work that we’re doing and want to be a part of it.”
Mr Ryan said that SA Water is constantly doing the work to be an organisation that people not only enjoy being a part of but see a future with.
“We’re really working very hard to ensure we have a really supportive, high-performing culture within the organisation,” he said.
“I think that it’s critically important to be a place where people want to come to work, they’re engaged, and they believe in where the organisation is going.
“We’re seeing continued uplift in our culture and engagement scores, which has been great to see. And we’ve entered into some long-term partnerships where we’ve been able to demonstrate to them that we’re a good partner to work with.”
With such a long pipeline of work ahead, Mr Ryan said it’s worth investing in those organisations and ensuring that SA Water’s partners also have the skills and capability they need to deliver this program.
“We also work really closely with our industry bodies to ensure we’re clearly spelling out what the pipeline of work looks like, and where the opportunities are to engage and work with us. We’re seeing lots of organisations who are really excited about the program of work that we’re doing and want to be a part of it,” he said.
“I actually think one of the things that really inspires and excites people who work in this industry is that we’re building long-lived assets that will provide benefits for our customers’ grandchildren, their grandchildren, and beyond.
“And that’s no more evident than [when you look at our existing assets] – we replace pipes that have been in the ground for well over 100 years, and you marvel at the engineering and the construction techniques that they used way back then that allow an asset to still be delivering value for customers here in modern times.”
With such an exciting, and challenging, road ahead for South Australia’s water sector, it’s fitting that the state is set to host the country’s biggest water conference and exhibition in 2025.
Hosted by the Australian Water Association, Ozwater kicks off from 20–22 May 2025, and Mr Ryan shared highlights from the huge schedule of presentations SA Water has lined up over the three-day event.
“[Attendees] will certainly hear more about the size of the program of work that we’re delivering, and I do want them to hear about many of these projects that have multiple benefits,” he said.
“It’s more than just improving water supply or providing improved wastewater services, [we’re also looking at] what we’re doing from an environmental perspective and from a carbon reduction perspective.
“I think [attendees who] see a few presentations from us will get an idea of just the huge diversity of this business – both in the services that we provide, but also the areas that we provide services in.”
SA Water has some incredible stories to share at the event, and attendees will have insight into the key services the utility is providing across the state – from the remote Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands in the far north-west, to Mount Gambier in the south-east and over on the Eyre Peninsula.
“It’s just an enormously diverse and exciting business to work in and be a part of. And whenever you hear our people present about it, they do so with enormous pride.
“We’re fond of saying we’re at a pivotal time for the industry, and in many ways, we are, but equally, we’ve also got an incredible history of delivering great value services for customers for many generations,” Mr Ryan said.
“I think we should be proud of that and use that for a sense of inspiration as we work through some big challenges in the sector.
