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From small businesses to major community assets, the higher proposed prices in our 2025–30 pricing proposal will impact all businesses differently. You can make a difference. Have your say during the public consultation process conducted by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART).
Our 2025–30 price proposal outlines the services and increased costs that both residential and non-residential customers may expect from 1 July 2025. It includes:
For non-residential customers, there is no change to the overall structure of your charges. You'll still have service charges, usage charges and trade waste fees (if applicable). There have been changes made to some of the individual charges, which are detailed below. We're also proposing to introduce backflow pricing for properties with a medium or high hazard rating.
You can view the full 2025–30 price proposal when you have your say.
The charges below are indicative of what we've proposed to IPART for the next 5 years. However, what you see on your bill will be different. The charges below will be adjusted each year for things like CPI and recovering any additional cost from the Sydney Desalination Plant. They are also based on a 20 mm service and assume a 100% discharge factor. There's breakdown of all meter size charges in the price proposal. You can view the full 2025–30 price proposal when you have your say.
Most customers have water and wastewater services. You can check our stormwater catchment map to find out if your property is in one of our stormwater areas. Our service charges (fixed charges) apply each quarter, but are calculated using a daily rate. The July and October quarters have 92 days, while the January quarter has 90 days and the April quarter has 91 days. The charges below are for the maximum 92-day quarter.
Charge | 2024–25 | 2025–26 | 2026–27 | 2027–28 | 2028–29 | 2029–30 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Water usage^ | $2.67/kL | $3.12/kL | $3.12/kL | $3.12/kL | $3.12/kL | $3.12/kL |
Wastewater usage | $1.36/kL | $1.41/kL | $1.41/kL | $1.41/kL | $1.41/kL | $1.41/kL |
Water 20 mm service | $16.90 a quarter | $21.48 a quarter | $35.66 a quarter | $50.82 a quarter | $67.47 a quarter | $85.29 a quarter |
Wastewater 20 mm service | $139.29 a quarter | $174.18 a quarter | $187.90 a quarter | $201.84 a quarter | $217.69 a quarter | $233.84 a quarter |
Stormwater service (200 m2 or less) | $7.11 a quarter | $8.19 a quarter | $9.21 a quarter | $10.34 a quarter | $11.67 a quarter | $13.13 a quarter |
Stormwater service (201 m2 to 1,000 m2 or low impact) | $22.23 a quarter | $26.23 a quarter | $29.52 a quarter | $33.13 a quarter | $37.38 a quarter | $42.07 a quarter |
Stormwater service (1,001 m2 to 10,000 m2) | $128.34 a quarter | $152.84 a quarter | $172.00 a quarter | $193.04 a quarter | $217.84 a quarter | $245.16 a quarter |
Stormwater service (10,001 m2 to 45,000 m2) | $569.57 a quarter | $679.29 a quarter | $764.47 a quarter | $857.98 a quarter | $968.21 a quarter | $1,089.61 a quarter |
Stormwater service (45,001 m2 or more) | $1,423.55 a quarter | $1,698.23 a quarter | $1,911.18 a quarter | $2,144.95 a quarter | $2,420.52 a quarter | $2,724.04 a quarter |
^ If dam levels for Greater Sydney drop below 60%, the water usage charge will increase until dam levels are back over 70%. In 2024–25, the charge would go from $2.67 to $3.61/kL. For the 2025–30 period, the base water usage price (before yearly CPI) would go from $3.12 to $3.78/kL.
We're proposing that there no longer be a separate charging method for stormwater services in the Rouse Hill catchment. Properties within this catchment will now fall into one of the area-based stormwater charging bands listed above.
The land charge helps pay for the floodways and flood-prone land that became part of the stormwater drainage system. From 1 July 2025, this charge will be included as part of developer infrastructure charges. Applications for connection prior to 1 July 2025 will still pay the Rouse Hill land charge for 20 quarters (5 years) from the time of connection.
Previously, there was no application fee. The cost of new applications was absorbed by the ongoing agreement fees. We believe separating the application fee is fairer for all commercial trade wastewater customers. The new application fee will be tiered based on the number of trade waste processes that a customer applies for. These charges reflect the hours required to process each application.
Similar to the application fee, the cost of variations to agreements was absorbed by the ongoing agreement fees. This charge will cover the cost of reviewing and processing any changes to the commercial permit.
This is a new charge for commercial customers only. It recovers the cost of travel to and from your site to read the discharge meter and record this reading in our billing system. Industrial customers pay this charge as part of their agreement fees.
This fee recovers the costs of writing to a non-compliant customer and managing their response to the non-compliance. If managing the non-compliance requires additional customer visits or site inspections, we will use the existing additional inspection fee.
We have proposed to use the existing non-standard industrial trade waste application fee to recover the costs of processing industrial trade waste applications, which are more complex or involved.
Similar to the non-standard industrial application fee, this hourly rate recovers the cost of processing industrial trade waste variations which take additional time beyond what has been allowed for within the standard variation fee.
This fee recovers the cost of managing the backflow prevention containment program from business customers with a testable backflow prevention device. Visit the backflow prevention page to understand your responsibilities.
Where a business fails to complete annual testing of their backflow prevention containment devices, we may arrange an accredited plumber to attend the site to complete testing.
This fee will apply when we have arranged a plumber to attend to test the backflow prevention containment device but access is refused.
Here are some examples of typical current costs for non-residential customers and how they may change over the next 5 years based on our proposal (in real 2025–26 terms). The figures in the table indicate prices for a whole year and are based on typical meter sizes and discharge factors. These figures do not include backflow fees and may change based on different activities at the properties over time.
Mark's workshop is in Doonside. Mark uses water to clean his workspace, in a kitchenette and bathroom on site. His workshop uses 100 kL per year. He has a 20 mm meter with a 95% discharge factor. He has a commercial trade wastewater agreement.
2024–25 | 2025–26 | 2026–27 | 2027–28 | 2028–29 | 2029–30 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$1,000 | $1,175 | $1,276 | $1,383 | $1,498 | $1,621 |
Kim's laundromat is in Five Dock. Many of Kim's machines are water efficient, but they could be upgraded to save water. The business uses 292 kL per year. She has a 20 mm meter with a 95% discharge factor. Kim has a commercial trade wastewater agreement.
2024–25 | 2025–26 | 2026–27 | 2027–28 | 2028–29 | 2029–30 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$1,786 | $2,074 | $2,179 | $2,288 | $2,406 | $2,530 |
The Trinhs' fast-food restaurant in Albion Park serves fried food and requires a large volume of water to cook with and clean the endless piles of dishes. The Trihns use 1,480 kL per year. They have a 25 mm meter with a 95% discharge factor. They have a commercial trade wastewater agreement that includes a grease trap pump-out requirement.
2024–25 | 2025–26 | 2026–27 | 2027–28 | 2028–29 | 2029–30 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$8,908 | $10,724 | $10,918 | $11,176 | $11,472 | $11,720 |
The Easy Living nursing home in Hornsby houses 60 residents. It provides meals and offers clinical services. The nursing home uses 5,180 kL a year. It has an 80 mm meter with a 75% discharge factor. It has a commercial trade wastewater agreement that includes a grease trap pump-out requirement.
2024–25 | 2025–26 | 2026–27 | 2027–28 | 2028–29 | 2029–30 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
28,034 | $32,761 | $34,390 | $36,113 | $37,968 | $39,937 |
A shopping centre in the Illawarra contains over 30 stores and trades 7 days a week. Overall, the centre uses 9,800 kL per year. It has a 40 mm meter with a 95% discharge factor. It has a commercial trade wastewater agreement that includes a grease trap pump-out requirement for the food outlets.
2024–25 | 2025–26 | 2026–27 | 2027–28 | 2028–29 | 2029–30 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$39,878 | $45,455 | $45,862 | $46,307 | $46,787 | $47,287 |
Our industrial customers each have a contact at Sydney Water that they can reach out to if they have questions about how the proposed charges may apply to them. We'll continue to update these customers as the price proposal progresses.
There is no 'typical' non-residential customer, and impacts on businesses could vary greatly. We know this may cause payment difficulties for some customers. We have programs in place ready to assist them.
Our support falls into 2 main categories:
Our support programs already exist and customers are using them. They can be scaled up to meet higher demand if and when that's needed.
If you'd like to know more, you can find a water saving program or get help to pay your water bill.