FAQs Creating a competitive and dynamic metropolitan water industry

What are the benefits of these reforms so far?

While it is too early to measure the success of these initiatives implemented by the NSW Government over the past year, there is already evidence that the private sector is preparing to take advantage of these reforms and that, over time, this will increase the supply of recycled water. To date:

new parties are now supplying recycled water to customers in Sydney. Orica has commenced supplying recycled water to its first group of customers from its recycled water plant at Botany;
over 200 interested parties attended a recent briefing on how to establish recycled water schemes that extract wastewater from Sydney Water�s network ( �sewer mining�), that could then be recycled for customers;
seven new sewer mining projects have been approved for financial support through the Water Savings Fund (now the Climate Change Fund).

What�s next?

The next major initiatives to encourage the private sector to recycle more include:

continue to provide training courses with local government and relevant industry groups on the new rules and streamlined procedures, to ensure that everyone has the latest information;
further refine the regulatory framework and guidelines for recycled water, with a specific focus on facilitating stormwater recycling.