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Reports and publications
Keeping you up to date
It's important that we remain transparent about the way we do things through our reports. We also take our responsibility to all customers in Greater Sydney seriously, and want to keep you informed. The publications on this page are all about how we govern our business and let you know about the things we do.
Customer guides
Our customer guides will help you to use our products and services.
| Guide |
What it's about |
|---|---|
Information about allowances for water use for customers using haemodialysis machines at home. |
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6 simple steps to condition our tap water for use in your aquarium. |
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Information for licensed plumbers on how to install a water meter. |
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Information for customers on how to maintain their water meters. |
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Information for licensed plumbers on how to install water meters in multi-level buildings. |
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Explains how we rely on customers to identify leaks and breaks and what we'll do about these reports. |
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In English, this guide is for new Sydney Water customers. It provides information on how to save water. |
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In Nepali, this guide is for new Sydney Water customers. It provides information on how to save water. |
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In Arabic, this guide is for new Sydney Water customers. It provides information on how to save water. |
Waterwrap® newsletters
These are the newsletters we send to residential customers with each bill.
| Newsletter edition | What's in the newsletter |
|---|---|
Go paperless now for the chance to win a $2,000 e-gift card! Hear about our 2025–30 price proposal and how to have your say. Get contractors in and out of your home faster. And let's talk about the quality of your drinking water. |
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The Wiggles save water too, so get excited by their new song. Find out how to prevent blocked loos with our latest ad campaign. And don't forget to claim your eligible tax deductions for businesses and investment properties. |
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Save water and money with WaterFix Residential, discover the future of water with a free visit to our Purified Recycled Water Discovery Centre, and learn about our new Operating Licence and Customer Contract – they start on 1 July. |
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Discover how purified recycled water will help create a resilient future, understand current Water Wise Guidelines, get help with your bill if you need it, and know what rebates you're entitled to for water outages and overflows. |
Business update newsletters
These are the newsletters we send to business (non-residential) customers with each bill.
| Newsletter edition | What's in the newsletter |
|---|---|
Go paperless for the chance to win a $2,000 gift card! Hear about our 2025–30 price proposal and how to have your say. And let's talk about the quality of drinking water. |
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Sign up for free sustainable hospitality training to lower your costs, see why our prices have remained low, and take the opportunity to tell us what you think of our services. |
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Get ready for our new Operating Licence and Customer Contract for the next 4 years – they start on 1 July – and find out about the future of our prices. |
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Find out what your business can do to help us prepare for the next drought, understand how to claim for loss and damages due to a fault in our system, and let us help if you need more time to pay. |
Reports
We publish many reports on our performance to the government, our regulators and our customers. We also produce research and environmental reports to inform our plans and strategies.
Dams safety
| Report title | What it's about |
|---|---|
Every year we're required to produce a safety standard report for each of our 16 declared dams. For a copy of the reports, email damsafety@sydneywater.com.au. |
Environment
| Report title | What it's about |
|---|---|
Creating a circular economy precinct (Institute for Sustainable Futures) |
This report, prepared by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, promotes discussion around creating a circular economy precinct in Sydney, including processing organics from wastewater to create valuable by-products. |
These webpages include the results of our water quality testing at our water resource recovery facilities, water filtration plants and the St Marys Advanced Water Treatment Plant, and air pollution reports. |
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This report analyses our performance against our Special Objectives, as required by the Sydney Water Act 1994 and our environmental performance indicators. |
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This report summarises the ecological footprint (EF) and carbon footprint results for the past 3 financial years for Sydney Water, creating a consistent time-series measurement of overall environmental impact. EF results are presented as equivalent land disturbance in hectares. |
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Healthy waterways and environmental protection: what we've heard |
This report summarises our action areas for healthy waterways and environmental protection, and addresses the ways Sydney Water relies upon, interacts with and impacts waterways and natural environments to provide our world class water services. |
Leaks and breaks
| Report title | What it's about |
|---|---|
This report analyses our performance in 2018–19 against the response times required under our Operating Licence 2015–2020. |
Quality management
| Report title | What it's about |
|---|---|
Quality management system (QMS) – Compliance and performance report |
This report analyses our performance against our quality management system, as required under our Operating Licence. |
Research and innovation
| Report title | What it's about |
|---|---|
Green infrastructure stormwater volume reduction performance – part 2 |
Biofilters – also known as raingardens and bioretention systems – are a type of green infrastructure that can reduce stormwater volumes and allow more natural flows to reach waterways. This study assessed how well the industry-standard model MUSIC can match monitored performance of biofilters and predict stormwater volume reductions. Calibration results show MUSIC is capable of predicting flow volume reductions for standard biofilter designs with good confidence, as long as parameters including exfiltration, hydraulic conductivity and potential evapotranspiration are properly represented. Recommendations on improved practice for modelling, design and monitoring are included. |
This report covers 3 case study areas to analyse current and future heat impacts on people and infrastructure in Eastern Sydney. It includes how adaptation planning can help reduce heat stress and infrastructure heat failure in the future. |
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This report looks at the role of water in mitigating urban heat in Western Sydney by orienting development around a blue-green grid of parklands and waterways. |
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This report showcases a selection of our research and innovation highlights from 2021. From the Sydney Water Innovation Festival to using artificial intelligence to predict tree root intrusion into sewers, this publication celebrates all things innovation. |
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This report covers research and innovation in a challenging year where we faced extreme drought and unprecedented bushfires. The report includes over 170 projects, ranging from Internet of Things sensors and digital meters to urban cooling and liveability initiatives. |
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Covering over 170 research and innovation projects including the approval of the new research and innovation strategy, this document shows how we're bringing people and ideas together to do things differently. |
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Water smart homes in Greater Sydney: A field guide for the future |
This report presents the research from Stream 2 of a 3-part project conducted by the Institute for Sustainable Futures for Sydney Water. It explores how smart technologies may transform water-use practices in commercial buildings and homes in Greater Sydney, particularly new areas in Western Sydney, over the next 10 years. |
Creating a water resilient city: Towards a sustainable and smart Eastern Harbour City |
Covering a selection of our innovative solutions, this document showcases how we're working to embed circular economy principles in our operations, transforming waterways into thriving and liveable spaces for the community, mitigating our impact on the climate and protecting the environment to help create a resilient and sustainable Eastern Harbour City. |
We must retain more water in our landscapes to protect waterways and support cool and green urban areas. This study outlines the performance of key green infrastructure types including bioretention, tree pits and green roofs so we can improve the planning, design and modelling of stormwater retention. |
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The Greater Parramatta and Olympic Peninsula (GPOP) Master Plan sets the long-term direction for water services in the area. It considers an adaptable and holistic water cycle management approach that will support vibrant communities, achieve sustainability outcomes, and deliver economic value to the region. The Master Plan will guide Sydney Water's next steps in planning and delivery for GPOP. |
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The Illawarra Regional Master Plan 2024 outlines Sydney Water’s vision for the coastal city and our plans to build a better life through world-class water services. Developed with key stakeholders in the region, the long-term and adaptive plan provides a framework for understanding the challenges and opportunities of an integrated water management approach in the Illawarra now, and into the future. |
Wastewater
| Report title | What it's about |
|---|---|
We produce aquatic monitoring interpretative reports every 4 years to provide in-depth analysis of trends in waterway health. |
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Yearly aquatic monitoring data report
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We produce yearly data reports to provide a check on environmental impacts. They include a summary of how our water resource recovery facilities are performing. |
Water efficiency
| Report title | What it's about |
|---|---|
This report is a 12-month study of water and energy use for 52 actual installations of rainwater tanks in Greater Sydney. These installations were in new homes and built under BASIX requirements. |
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This report outlines our water conservation plan for the next 5 years and reports on the water savings from our water conservation programs for 2022–23. |
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This report outlines our water conservation plan for the next 5 years and reports on the water savings from our water conservation programs for 2021–22. |
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This report outlines our water conservation plan for the next 5 years and reports on the water savings from our water conservation programs for 2020–21. |
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This report outlines our water conservation plan for the next 5 years and reports on the water savings from our water conservation programs for 2019–20. |
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This report outlines our water conservation plan for the next 5 years and reports on the water savings from our water conservation programs for 2018–19. |
Water quality and quantity
| Report title | What it's about |
|---|---|
Insert your address to see the daily report confirming the performance of our water filtration plants and water delivery systems. |
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Select 'Water quality report' and insert your address to see a full analysis of the drinking water in your area. |
Regulatory information
These reports and links explain the governance around our business.
| Publication/link | What it's about |
|---|---|
This document sets out the minimum service standards and outlines your rights and obligations as a customer. |
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This page on our website is an easy-to-read summary of our Customer Contract. |
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This Act and the Dams Safety Regulation 2019 provide the framework and activities that ensure dams don't put the safety of persons, property or the environment at risk. |
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We manage dams safety according to the requirements of the Dams Safety Act 2015 and this Regulation. |
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The GIPA Act focuses on making government information readily available. |
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This Act outlines the structure and functions of the tribunal that sets Sydney Water prices and regulates compliance against our Operating Licence. |
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This Statement analyses our performance against the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) showing how we address slavery risks in our operations and supply chains. |
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Our Operating Licence allows us to supply water, wastewater, recycled water and stormwater services and sets the requirements around these operations. |
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Information for plumbers and drainers about safety, inspections and the plumbing code. |
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This Act outlines the framework under which the EPA regulates Sydney Water. The aim of the Act is to protect, restore and enhance the environment. |
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This Act outlines the legislation under which state-owned corporations such as Sydney Water operate. |
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This Statement outlines how we will fulfil our commitment to our corporate objectives and the expectations of the NSW Government. |
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The purpose of this Statement is to help Sydney Water ensure its strategic direction aligns with the Government's expectations. |
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This Act established Sydney Water as a state-owned corporation and outlines the regulatory framework under which we operate. |
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This Regulation empowers Sydney Water to regulate controlled areas, certain aspects of plumbing and drainage, water restrictions, and damage to our property. |
Memorandums of understanding
These are the agreements we have in place with other agencies.
| Memorandum of understanding (MOU) | Summary |
|---|---|
Memorandum of Understanding with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) |
This MOU provides the foundations for a cooperative relationship between the EPA and Sydney Water. It reflects the requirements of the Sydney Water Act and our Operating Licence. |
Memorandum of Understanding with the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) |
This MOU is between the Commonwealth of Australia and NATA to promote reliable results of measurement, testing, inspection and similar activities. The National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) in the Life Sciences sector accredits Sydney Water. |
This MOU provides strategies for Sydney Water and Fire and Rescue NSW to work together to ensure efficient and effective provision of water for firefighting. |
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Memorandum of Understanding with Fire and Rescue NSW and the NSW Rural Fire Service |
This MOU governs the use of recycled water for firefighting purposes within Sydney Water's area of operations. |
Schedule 1 – List of schemes where recycled water is used for firefighting |
This Schedule lists recycled water schemes, as at date of last issue (2012). |
This MOU forms the basis of a cooperative relationship between Sydney Water and NSW Health. This includes arrangements for Sydney Water to report information on any events which may pose a risk to health. |
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When finalised this draft MOU will replace the current MOU between Sydney Water and NSW Health. |
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Memorandum of Understanding with the Water Administration Ministerial Corporation |
This MOU provides the foundation for a cooperative relationship between the NSW Office of Water and Sydney Water. The aim is to ensure that Sydney Water meets the requirements under the regulation of the NSW Office of Water. |
Purchase order terms and conditions
On 13 July 2024, Sydney Water's purchase order terms and conditions were updated. For all purchase orders issued by Sydney Water on or after 13 July 2024, the updated Purchase order terms and conditions will apply.
For all purchase orders issued before 13 July 2024, the purchase order terms and conditions for the goods and services purchased by Sydney Water under previous purchase orders will continue to apply.
In summary:
- For all purchase orders issued to you on or after 13 July 2024, Purchase order terms and conditions will apply.
- For all purchase orders issued to you between 20 December 2022 and 12 July 2024, Purchase order terms and conditions will apply.
- For all purchase orders issued to you between 7 November 2016 and 19 December 2022, Purchase order terms and conditions will apply.
- For all purchase orders issued to you between 22 October 2015 and 6 November 2016, Purchase order terms and conditions will apply.