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Our contract with you
Our Customer Contract outlines our obligations to you. It also details your responsibilities as a customer. This page is only a summary. The full Customer Contract is part of our Operating Licence and is legally binding.
Foreword
Sydney Water provides drinking water services and wastewater services to people in Sydney, the Illawarra and the Blue Mountains. We also provide some recycled water services, stormwater services and trade wastewater services.
Our key objectives are protecting public health, protecting the environment and operating as a successful business.
The Customer Contract outlines your rights and obligations as a customer using our services and sets the minimum standards of customer service that you can expect from us. It is our service guarantee to our customers. It also outlines our rights and obligations to help us meet our key objectives.
This page is a summary only and all information should be reviewed in the context of the full Customer Contract.
Definitions and interpretations
Some words have a special meaning within this summary and the full Customer Contract. These words are written in bold to let you know a special meaning applies. The meanings are set out in the below dictionary. The entire dictionary can be found in clause 16 of the full Customer Contract.
Act means the Sydney Water Act 1994 (NSW).
area of operations means the area referred to in section 10 of the Act and specified in Schedule A to the Licence.
Australian Drinking Water Guidelines means the "Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2011" published by the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council of Australia and New Zealand and updated in September 2022.
Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling means the "Australian Guidelines For Water Recycling: Managing Health and Environmental Risks (Phases 1 and 2)" published by the Environment Protection and Heritage Council, the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council or the Australian Health Ministers' Conference.
authorised connection means a connection to our systems that has been approved by us in compliance with our connection requirements and any conditions of approval or a connection to our systems that pre-dates formal written approvals.
billing cycle means the regular billing period. For most customers each billing period is 3 months but it can be one month or as otherwise agreed.
charges include any charges or fees payable under this Customer Contract or other agreement made between us and you.
complaint means an expression of dissatisfaction made to or about us in relation to our actions, products, our services, our people or the complaints-handling process itself, where a response or resolution is reasonably expected (explicitly or implicitly) or legally required.
connection point is the joint or fitting where your systems connect to our systems. The connection point may be located on, or near, your property. There are separate points of connection for each connection to our water system, wastewater system or stormwater drainage system. Refer to the diagrams in Appendix B.
connection requirements means our requirements for connection to our systems published on our website. These requirements are intended to ensure that there is adequate capacity for customer connection and that our systems are protected against potential problems that could arise from unauthorised connections and defects in your systems.
declared stormwater drainage area means an area within our area of operations declared to be a stormwater drainage area as set out in Schedule 1 of the Sydney Water (Stormwater Drainage Areas) Order 2011.
defect or defective means any non-compliance of any of your systems within the Plumbing Code of Australia, or any blockage or leakage from any of your systems.
disconnect or disconnection means the stopping (either temporarily or permanently) of the supply of our services to your property.
dispute means an unresolved complaint escalated internally or externally or both.
drinking water means water intended primarily for human consumption and other personal, domestic or household uses such as bathing and showering, whether or not the water is used for other purposes.
drinking water systems means our infrastructure that is, or is intended to be, used to provide our drinking water services, for example our drinking water pipes and meter.
low drinking water pressure means where your drinking water pressure at the connection point to our water main is below 15m head of pressure for a continuous period of one hour or more. It is determined either by:
(a) customer notification and confirmation by our field testing, or
(b) data obtained through our data collection systems and hydraulic analysis.
maintenance includes repairs and replacement, and, where relevant, testing and inspection.
meter is the device used to measure water usage and includes any remote reading equipment and associated wiring, data logging and servicing equipment.
My Account is our online platform where customers can access and update information about their personal information, bills, and manage payments.
non-residential customer is a customer that is not a residential customer.
our services means supplying drinking water and recycled water, providing wastewater services and stormwater services, and disposing of wastewater.
our systems means our infrastructure that is, or is intended to be, used to provide our services, including our drinking water systems, recycled water systems, stormwater drainage system and wastewater system.
payment difficulty means situations where a customer is willing but unable to pay some or all of their bill by the due date.
planned interruption means an interruption to our service initiated by us to allow non-emergency maintenance or new connections to be undertaken.
pressure sewerage equipment is equipment that is designed to collect wastewater and pump it to our wastewater system, including a pressure sewerage pump, collection tank and cover, alarm control panel, electrical connections and ancillary equipment.
private joint service means a single connection point to our system which serves more than one property.
property means any real property that is connected to, or for which a connection is available to, our water system, our wastewater system, our recycled water system or is within a declared stormwater drainage area or the Rouse Hill stormwater catchment area. This also includes strata titled properties.
property boundary means the boundary shown in a plan registered with NSW Land Registry Services. For strata plans, the relevant boundary is the boundary of the strata scheme (not the boundary of an individual lot).
property cluster has the meaning given in the Operating Licence.
pump to sewer means a service we provide to customers that pump wastewater to our gravity wastewater system using pressure sewerage equipment installed on their property.
recycled water means water that has been treated to a standard suitable for its intended end use such as industrial, commercial and/or residential applications but is not intended for use as drinking water.
recycled water area is the geographical area occupied by a community or communities supplied with recycled water through a pipe network separate from the drinking water system.
recycled water service means the service we are permitted to provide by the Operating Licence and any applicable law in respect to the collection, storage, treatment, conveyance, reticulation, supply or disposal of recycled water.
recycled water systems means our infrastructure that is, or is intended to be, used to provide our recycled water services, for example our recycled water pipes and meter.
residential customer means a customer who owns a property that is used as a principal place of residence.
residential property is property that is a customer's principal place of residence or that is categorised as residential under the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW).
restrict or restriction means a direct action taken by us to reduce flow of water to your property.
Rouse Hill stormwater catchment area means the area of land located in the Rouse Hill stormwater catchment.
service charge is a charge for being connected to our systems or located within a declared stormwater drainage area or the Rouse Hill stormwater catchment area.
sewer mining is the process of tapping into a wastewater pipe (either before or after the wastewater treatment plant) and extracting wastewater.
stormwater drainage system has the same meaning as in our Operating Licence.
stormwater services means the services we are permitted to provide by the Operating Licence and any applicable law with respect to stormwater drainage systems.
Sydney Water Regulation means the Sydney Water Regulation 2017 made under the Act.
trade waste means any liquid, and any material contained in any liquid, which:
(a) is produced on or stored at any non-residential property and contains pollutants at a concentration greater than the domestic equivalent determined by IPART in the prevailing price determination for Sydney Water referred to in clause 5.1,
(b) is produced or stored on, or transported by, any vehicle (including, without limitation, motor vehicles, planes, boats and trains),
(c) is comprised of waste from a portable toilet or septic tank, or
(d) is comprised of run-off or groundwater from an area that is contaminated within the meaning of section 5 of the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997 (NSW).
trade waste acceptance standards means the standard by this name published on our website from time to time.
trade waste service means the services we are permitted to provide by the Operating Licence and any applicable law in respect to the collection, storage, treatment, conveyance, or disposal of trade waste.
unauthorised connection is where you connect to any of our systems without an approval from us.
unauthorised work means the placement of any excavation, building, landscaping, construction or other works or structures over or adjacent to our that interferes with our systems without our approval.
unplanned interruption means an interruption to our services that is not a planned interruption or for which the required notice for a planned interruption has not been given.
wastewater includes sewage and other substances you discharge into the wastewater system including what you flush down your toilet, water that drains from your shower, bathtub, sink, washing machine and other plumbing sources.
wastewater usage discharge factor is an estimate of the volume of wastewater discharged by you into our wastewater system usually expressed as a percentage of water measured by our meters as delivered to your property or otherwise determined in accordance with clause 5.12.
wastewater overflow is the discharge of untreated or partially treated wastewater from:
(a) any part of our wastewater system, or
(b) any part of your wastewater system where the cause of the discharge is a failure of our wastewater system.
wastewater service means the service we are permitted to provide by the Operating Licence and any applicable law in respect to the collection, storage, treatment, conveyance or reticulation of wastewater.
wastewater system means our infrastructure that is, or is intended to be, used to provide our wastewater services, for example our wastewater pipes.
water restrictions means a restriction on the use of drinking water or recycled water provided for by, or under, the Act, the Sydney Water Regulation or any other law.
water service means our drinking water service and recycled water service.
water system means our drinking water system and our recycled water system.
we, our or us means Sydney Water Corporation, established under the Act, and includes our people.
you or your means our customer for the purposes of this Customer Contract.
your recycled water system means the pipes, fittings, meters (except those owned by us) and other connected accessories required for or incidental to the supply and measurement of recycled water provided by us but does not include our recycled water system.
your system means your wastewater system, your water system or your recycled water system as the case may be.
your wastewater system means the pipes, fittings and other connected accessories required for or incidental to the discharge or conveyance of wastewater to our wastewater system but does not include our wastewater system. It includes pressure sewerage equipment owned by you. Your wastewater system may extend beyond the boundary of your property. If you do not know where the connection point is, you should contact us for information on where to obtain a diagram.
your water system means the pipes, fittings, meters (except those owned by us) and other connected accessories downstream of the connection point with our water system, that is required for, or incidental to, the supply and measurement of drinking water or recycled water provided by us but does not include our water system. Your water system may extend beyond the boundary of your property. If you do not know where the connection point is, you should contact us for information on where to obtain a diagram.
Who and what is covered?
The Customer Contract is between us (Sydney Water) and you (the customer). You do not need to sign it for it to be legally binding.
You are our customer and you are covered by the Customer Contract if you own a property that is:
(a) connected to our drinking water system, recyled water system or wastewater system and is within our area of operations,
(b) within a declared stormwater drainage area or the Rouse Hill stormwater catchment area and you are required to pay the charges for the stormwater services we provide.
What services do we provide?
We supply our services to more than 5 million people in Sydney, the Illawarra and the Blue Mountains.
We're responsible for the maintenance of the systems that supply those services. You're responsible for maintaining all water pipes and fittings between our water main and the building/taps on your property. You're also responsible for maintaining all wastewater pipes and fittings between your property and Sydney Water's wastewater system. If you share a private joint service for water or wastewater, you and those you share it with must maintain that pipe. How you split these costs is between you and whoever shares it with you. For more information and diagrams of typical responsibilities for maintenance, visit our maintaining your service page.
Drinking water
| What standard will we meet? | What if there's a problem with the service? | Will there be a rebate? |
|---|---|---|
We'll supply drinking water that complies with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. |
If you notice that the drinking water is dirty or discoloured, you should contact us on our 24-hour faults line 13 20 90. We'll investigate whether the issue is within our systems. We continuously monitor the water quality across our water system and pass on those results on to NSW Health. NSW Health has the authority to declare the water as unsafe or contaminated. |
If a problem in our water system stops us supplying clean water suitable for normal household purposes, we'll apply a $46 rebate. Only one rebate of this type will be applied each quarter. If NSW Health issues a boil water alert due to a Sydney Water fault, we'll apply a $58 rebate for each contamination incident. |
We'll supply drinking water at the point of connection to our water system that meets our minimum pressure standard of 15 metres head |
You are not entitled to a rebate if the low drinking water pressure is a result of the following:
|
If your water pressure is lower than our standard, at the point of connection for one hour continuously, we'll apply a $46 rebate. We'll only pay this for one event each quarter. |
We'll give residential customers at least 2 days written notice and non-residential customers at least 7 days written notice, for planned interruptions, unless another period is agreed to. |
We'll try to limit any planned interruption to less than 5 hours at a time. |
If your water services are interrupted by planned work for over 5 hours, we'll apply a $23 rebate. |
We'll make every reasonable effort to minimise inconvenience to you if there is an unplanned interruption to our services. |
We'll restore our services as quickly as possible. We'll provide 24/7 access to our Faults enquiries line 13 20 90, have the ability to register for service alerts and outage information displayed on our works near you page. |
If your water services are interrupted by unplanned work for over 5 hours, we'll apply a $46 rebate. If you have 3 or more unplanned water service interruptions in a year, each lasting over one hour, we'll rebate your full water service for the following 12 months. The rebate will be less any concessions you receive. |
We'll provide a meter, unless you make other arrangements with us. |
We'll maintain the meter and replace it if necessary. If the meter is damaged or stops, we'll estimate your water use based on your previous bills. If your meter is stolen, you should report it to the police and advise us of the Event number. |
If there is no meter, you must pay an unmetered service charge. If the water or wastewater charges change during the meter reading period, we'll apply the new price on a pro rata basis. |
Courtesy repair for your water systems
If you contact us, we'll repair your water pipes between our water system and the meter, up to one metre inside your property boundary for free. For units, this is the master strata property boundary. The following exclusions apply:
- if your water system is completely within private property such as in some community title subdivisions or the fault is behind construction fencing
- if your water system is larger than 40 mm
- if your water system is under the terms of a separate agreement
- if the failure is on your fire service, including combined services
- if the failure relates to a backflow prevention device
- if the failure has been caused by you.
This service applies to both drinking water and recycled water.
Recycled water
| What standard will we meet? | What if there's a problem with the service? | Will there be a rebate? |
|---|---|---|
If your property is within a Sydney Water recycled water area we'll supply recycled water for non-drinking purposes, where available. |
If there's a problem with your recycled water, you should contact us on our 24-hour faults line 13 20 90. We'll investigate whether the issue is within our systems. |
There are no formal rebates for recycled water unless we have a separate agreement with you. |
We'll supply recycled water that complies with the Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling and provide information on the standard requirements for it's safe use. |
If there's a problem with the quality of your recycled water, you should contact us on our 24-hour faults line 13 20 90. We'll investigate whether the issue is within our systems. |
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We'll give residential customers at least 2 days written notice and non-residential customers at least 7 days written notice, for a planned interruption, unless another period is agreed to. |
We'll try to limit any planned interruption to less than 5 hours at a time. |
|
We'll provide a meter, unless you make other arrangements with us. We'll maintain our meter and replace it if necessary. |
If the meter is damaged or stops, we'll estimate your water use based on your previous bills. |
If there is no meter, you must pay an unmetered service charge. If the water or wastewater charges change during the meter reading period, we'll apply the new price on a pro rata basis. |
Wastewater
| What standard will we meet? | What if there's a problem with the service? | Will there be a rebate? |
|---|---|---|
We'll provide you with wastewater services to meet your reasonable needs.
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We'll do all we can to reduce wastewater overflows on your property caused by a failure of our system. We'll try to minimise the inconvenience to you and make sure the area is properly cleaned.
|
If wastewater overflows onto your property because our wastewater system has failed, we'll give you a $87 rebate. If it happens again within 12 months, we'll give you a $174 rebate. If wastewater overflows onto your property more than twice in a year because our wastewater system has failed, we'll rebate your full wastewater service charges for the following 12 months. The rebate will be less any concessions you receive. |
Courtesy repair for your wastewater system
For residential customers, as a free service, we may repair your collapsed wastewater pipes under a public footpath or roadway. A licensed plumber must confirm that the fault cannot be repaired without excavating the roadway or footpath. If we complete free repairs, you retain ownership and responsibility for the pipes. You also assign any rights to recover costs from the person(s) responsible for the collapse of your wastewater system, if applicable.
If we assess that repairs can be done without excavation, we won't take over the repair and you will remain responsible for all costs. We also won't reimburse you for any costs you have incurred relating to the collapse of your wastewater system, whether we assist you with the free service or not.
More information can be found in our Collapsed Private Services in Public Land Program: Guide for customers.
Pressure sewerage systems
You have different connection requirements, and operation and maintenance obligations, depending on whether you have pressure sewerage equipment owned by us or by you.
These requirements and obligations are set out in Schedule A and illustrated in Figures 5, 6 and 7 of Schedule B of the full Customer Contract.
Trade wastewater
You must have our approval to discharge trade wastewater. That approval is conditional on you meeting the requirements set out in our agreement with you. We can refuse to accept trade wastewater if we determine that it poses a risk to our systems, our operations or our people.
Stormwater services
What standard will we meet? |
What if there's a problem with the service? |
Will there be a rebate? |
|---|---|---|
We'll provide you with stormwater services in the declared stormwater drainage areas and the Rouse Hill stormwater catchment area. We'll notify you if your property is in an area that is added to the declared stormwater drainage areas. |
If you notice rubbish or other debris impacting our stormwater assets, contact us to report it. |
There are no formal rebates for stormwater services. |
Other services
We will also consider requests for an agreement for the provision of other services not covered by the Customer Contract. We'll meet the terms of any other agreements you have with us that are separate from the services covered by the Customer Contract.
How can you pay your bill?
We usually send residential customers quarterly bills. We may send monthly bills if you're a non-residential customer with high water use.
Owners can choose to receive the bill by post or electronically. To update this preference, log in or register for My Account. Visit payment options to see the different ways to pay. We will not accept payments by other methods.
We will charge a card processing fee for card payments. This will be advertised on our website and on the bill. We may charge you a fee if your bill payment is dishonoured or declined. These fees are set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) and detailed in our prices for other services.
What happens if you can't pay your bill on time?
If you're experiencing payment difficulties, contact us and we'll discuss payment options with you, including negotiating more time for you to pay or an amount you can afford on an agreed payment plan. Find out more about these options and how we can help with your bill.
We may charge you interest or a late payment fee if you don't pay your bill by the due date or you don't keep to the arrangement you agree to.
If you are experiencing family violence, we can enter you into our BillAssist program so that you have a single point of contact with us. Regardless of your financial situation, our trained community services staff may be able to help you find other types of support. Above all, they will keep your circumstances confidential.
What do we offer pensioners?
You may be entitled to a pension rebate if you:
- have a Pension Concession Card issued by Services Australia or the Department of Veterans' Affairs or a Department of Veterans' Affairs Gold Card embossed with TPI, TTI, EDA or war widow/widower
- receive a Disability Compensation Payment at the TTI rate.
Find out more and apply for pension rebates.
Who sets the prices?
IPART reviews and sets our prices for water, wastewater, recycled water, stormwater and other services. The prices you pay depend on the type of property you have and the services available in your area. Prices are adjusted for the rate of inflation on 1 July each year as set out in the current pricing determination. Visit our prices to see the current charges.
When will we disconnect your water supply?
For non-payment
If you don't pay your bill by the due date and haven't made other arrangements with us, we may restrict or disconnect the water to your property.
If you are a tenant or other occupier of the property, you can make payment to us to avoid restriction. The Act permits you to recover the costs from your landlord or to deduct those charges from rents otherwise payable.
We won't restrict or disconnect your water supply for non-payment unless we have:
- given reasonable notice to the occupier of the property that we intend to restrict or disconnect the supply
- informed you about our policies on assistance options for payment difficulties and family violence, or actions for non-payment.
For other reasons
We may also restrict or disconnect your water supply if:
- you have an unauthorised connection to our systems
- your system is defective
- you breach the Customer Contract, the Act, a separate agreement or any other agreement with us
- you fail to meet our metering requirements (published in our policies and guidelines)
- a serious health or environmental risk is posed by backflow of any substance from your water system into our water system
- you discharge trade wastewater in our wastewater system without a separate agreement with us (if one is required), or you fail to comply with the conditions of the separate agreement.
If we disconnect your service because they are defective or pose a risk to our system, we may engage contractors to rectify the problems and pass those costs on to you.
We won't restrict or disconnect your water supply:
- on a Friday
- on the weekend
- on a public holiday or the day before a public holiday
- after 3pm on a business day
- if we have received notification that you need drinking water for a life support machine or other special needs.
Restoring supply
We'll restore our drinking water service to your property if:
- the reason for restriction or disconnection of supply no longer exists
- we agree with you to restore supply (including as part of a payment arrangement)
- you pay the outstanding charges.
We'll restore the water supply the same day once we're aware one of the above criteria has been met.
When will we enter your property?
At times, we may need to enter your property to maintain our systems, to read, fit, exchange or maintain a water meter, or ensure compliance with this contract or other applicable laws. Our staff and authorised contractors will wear ID badges.
You must make sure we can safely enter your property during the day. In emergencies, we may need to enter your property at night.
We’ll give you at least 2 days written notice when we need to enter your property for planned work unless you agree to a shorter notice period.
We won't give you written notice:
- in an emergency
- to exchange, fit or read a meter
- to conduct a water restriction investigation
- to investigate a health or safety issue
- to conduct a general property inspection
- if giving notice would defeat the purpose of entry.
If we need to enter your property, we'll try to cause as little inconvenience as possible. We'll remove our rubbish and equipment and aim to leave your property in, as near as possible, the condition that it was in on entry. If we damage anything, you may be entitled to compensation through our claims for damages process.
How can you talk to us?
Our website and My Account portal allow you to self-serve many common tasks.
If there's a problem with our water, wastewater, recycled water or stormwater systems, call our faults and leaks service on 13 20 90 24/7.
For general information about Sydney Water and our services, or to ask about your bill, call us on 13 20 92 8am–5:30pm Monday to Friday (except public holidays).
We supply a free interpreter service for people from non-English speaking backgrounds. Call 13 14 50 to request an interpreter.
For telephone typewriter (TTY) services, call the National Relay Service on 13 36 77.
What if you're not happy?
We want to know if you're not happy with our service. If you'd like to make a complaint, you can contact us. If your complaint relates to an account, billing or general matter or you are unsure, please contact 13 20 92 8am–5:30pm Monday to Friday (except public holidays). If your complaint relates to a service fault, particularly if the fault has gotten worse, please call 13 20 90 24/7. You can also submit your complaint through our contact us page or by writing to us at PO Box 399, Parramatta NSW 2124.
We aim to resolve your complaint at the first point of contact by providing a solution or negotiating an agreed course of action. We’ll respond to complaints in a prompt, efficient and fair manner and make all reasonable efforts to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction. If we need to pass your complaint on for further investigation, we'll contact you within:
- 2 working days if you phoned us
- 5 days if you emailed or wrote to us.
We'll respond to let you know what we're going to do to resolve your complaint and when. If you're not satisfied with our response, you can ask for a manager to review it.
If you are still not satisifed with our response, you can ask the Energy and Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON) to consider your complaint at any time, at no cost to you. You can also engage the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) or other legal avenues.