City of Sydney advances recycled water precinct

The City of Sydney is committed to ensuring that by 2030 the demand for potable water, including the requirements of new business, commercial and residential developments, does not exceed 2006 levels.  In order to achieve this ambitious goal, the City intends to expand the use of recycled water and had the foresight to install a new pipeline extending from Circular Quay in the north to Central Station in the south with provisions for junctions and branches to serve new developments in the west of the City. The City’s goal is to develop a new model for the operation of recycled water schemes based on a precinct approach. The installation of the pipeline was the product of 10 years of planning and stakeholder engagement, with customers, government and the water industry to identify new opportunities for water reuse within the city.

On 25 February, the City of Sydney, in partnership with UNSW-GWI, University of Technology Sydney's Institute of Sustainable Futures and the Open Cities Network convened a co-design workshop to begin the task of developing a program to deliver the recycled water precinct. The one-day workshop was launched by the Lord Mayor Clover Moore and facilitated by TwoCollaborate, using a range of ideation and strategy exercises to identify values, priorities, benefits and obstacles to changing the binary provider-customer business as usual approach and building a precinct with multiple recycled water producers and consumers. In attendance were representatives from Government, including pricing and health regulators, the water industry and most importantly future customers along the pipeline route.

The day was the first step in a considered and consultative approach with the goal bringing the program to market by the third quarter of 2020.