Increasing the use of recycled water

7 September 2009

Increasing the use of recycled water is an important part of securing Sydney’s water supply, the Minister for Water, Philip Costa said today.

To demonstrate its importance, journalists from the Chinese, Arabic and Vietnamese media were taken on a specially guided tour of the Rouse Hill Sewage Treatment Plant ( DATE TBA) which provides recycled water to over 18,000 Sydney households to use on gardens, wash clothes and cars, and to flush toilets.

Recycling is one of four ways in which the NSW Government and Sydney Water are working to ensure that there will be enough water for Sydney, even in times of drought.

These include water storage in dams, building a desalination plant and encouraging greater water efficiency among all homes and business users.

“Together these mean that greater Sydney’s water supply is now secured by more diverse and flexible means and no longer relies on rainfall and dams alone. This prepares us for population growth, climate change and future droughts,” Mr Costa said.

The Government is undertaking a consultation process as part of the review of the Metropolitan Water Plan to secure Sydney’s water supplies into the future.

Community education is an important part of the consultation process and the Water for Life campaign aims to increase awareness of water security measures and encourage continued wise water use. It is targeting the greater Sydney community including key non-English speaking communities such as the Chinese, the Arabic, Vietnamese, Greek and Italian communities.

“Research tells us the community is very interested in urban water issues. Sydneysiders want to know more about what the Government is doing to secure our water supply and what they can do to help save water.” Mr Costa said.

The visit to the Rouse Hill Sewage Treatment plant is part of the Government’s Water for Life campaign along with community water education at events such as the Haldon St Festival in Lakemba in mid-August and the Moon Festival in Cabramatta in late-September.

“It’s important to get people from all walks of life involved in the process as water security is an issue that affects us all,” Mr Costa said.

“A secure water supply is an essential foundation for growth, investment and prosperity.”

“We want to encourage the people of greater Sydney to actively contribute in planning and managing for a sustainable water future,” Mr Costa said.

Mr Costa said the success of these kinds of campaigns is well proven.

“Research conducted during each phase of previous campaigns demonstrated an increase in the proportion of the community taking action to save water and raised awareness of measures to secure Sydney’s water supply,” Mr Costa said.

“Greater Sydney is now using the same amount of water as we did in the 1970s, despite a population increase of 1.3 million people. That is a great effort.”

You can find further information on the NSW Government's recycling initiatives here.