Water management
A few words about water
Decentralised water is about improving the water efficiency of buildings and operations, sourcing water locally for non-drinking purposes and improving the quality of our waterways.
Why re-think water?
Our current water strategy is to build large dams, hope for rain, treat all water to drinking quality, pump it all the way to the city and then only drink 2 per cent of the water received.
Even if we add the amounts used for showering, bathing and cooking, drinking water requirements equal no more than half of our total water consumption.
The other half is used for things like toilet flushing, air conditioning cooling and watering parks and gardens. These jobs don’t need such high quality water.
Also, more than half the water infrastructure in the local area is more than 70 years old. The current water network is inefficient, unsustainable and highly sensitive to climate change. It’s time to re-think how we deliver Sydney’s drinking and non-drinking water supplies.
Making plans
The City of Sydney has worked closely with a huge range of industry partners, including Sydney Water, to come up with a solid master plan that will ensure the local area’s water needs are met sustainably. We are thinking locally, rather than relying on large-scale remote solutions.
Localised management of water, wastewater and stormwater is a major part of the plan.
The best solution for Sydney is based on water efficiency, recycled water options, a reduction in stormwater pollution and cost. The plan details how to bring together these solutions, where they should be located and how they will perform.
If you would like to know more, you can download the master plan below.
Links
| Downloads | ||
|---|---|---|
| Decentralised water master plan | PDF 10.9 MB | Download |
Help with downloading and viewing files
Request an accessible format
Last updated: Tuesday, 9 April 2013