Water supply and sanitation in Australia

Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... : Water and Sanitation

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|-
! style="text-align:center; background:lightblue;" colspan="3"|Data
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Water coverage (broad definition)
|valign="top"| 100%
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Sanitation coverage (broad definition)
|valign="top"| 100%
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Continuity of supply (%)
|valign="top"| Mostly continuous
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Average residential water use (l/p/d)
|valign="top"| 191 liter/person/day<(2007)
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Average domestic water and sewer bill
|valign="top"| A$60/month or US$46/month
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Share of household metering
|valign="top"| n/a
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Annual investment in WSS
|valign="top"| A$2 bn/US$1.74 bn (2007–08) or US$81/capita
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Share of self-financing by utilities
|valign="top"| High
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Share of tax-financing
|valign="top"| Low
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Share of external financing
|valign="top"| None
|-
! style="text-align:center; background:lightblue;" colspan="3"|Institutions
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Decentralisation to municipalities
|valign="top"| In some states (primarily in Queensland and Tasmania)
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|National water and sanitation company
|valign="top"| State water and sanitation companies
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Water and sanitation regulator
|valign="top"| No
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Responsibility for policy setting
|valign="top"| Share between states/territories and the Commonwealth (national government)
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Sector law
|valign="top"| No
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Number of urban service providers
|valign="top"| > 33
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Number of rural service providers
|valign="top"| n/a
|}

Water supply

Water supply

Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...

and sanitation

Sanitation

Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...

in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

is universal and of good quality. As the country's supply of freshwater is increasingly vulnerable to droughts

Drought in Australia

Drought in Australia is defined as rainfall over a three month period being in the lowest decile of what has been recorded for that region in the past. This definition takes into account that drought is a relative term and rainfall deficiencies need to be compared to typical rainfall patterns...

, possibly as a result of climate change

Climate change in Australia

Climate change has become a major issue in Australia due to drastic climate events since the turn of the 21st century that have focused government and public attention. Rainfall in Australia has increased slightly over the past century, although there is little or no trend in rainfall in northeast...

, there is an emphasis on water conservation

Water conservation

Water conservation refers to reducing the usage of water and recycling of waste water for different purposes such as cleaning, manufacturing, and agricultural irrigation.- Water conservation :Water conservation can be defined as:...

and various regions have imposed restrictions on the use of water

Water restrictions in Australia

Water restrictions have been enacted in many cities and regions in Australia, which is the Earth's driest inhabited continent, in response to chronic water shortages resulting from the drought. Depending upon the location, these can include restrictions on watering lawns, using sprinkler systems,...

. In 2006, Perth became the first Australian city to operate a seawater desalination plant, the Kwinana Desalination Plant

Kwinana Desalination Plant

The Kwinana Desalination Plant, located south of Perth, Western Australia, turns seawater from Cockburn Sound into nearly 140 megalitres of drinking water per day, supplying the Perth metropolitan area....

, to reduce the city's vulnerability to droughts. More plants are planned or are under construction in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, the Gold Coast

Gold Coast, Queensland

Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...

, Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, and Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

. The use of reclaimed water

Reclaimed water

Reclaimed water or recycled water, is former wastewater that is treated to remove solids and certain impurities, and used in sustainable landscaping irrigation or to recharge groundwater aquifers...

is also increasingly common. However, some desalination plants were put in stand-by modes in 2010 following above average rainfall levels and floods in 2010.

Governments of Australian states and territories, through state-owned companies, are in charge of service provision in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

and the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

, while utilities owned by local governments provide services in parts of Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

and Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

. In Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

and Southeast Queensland state-owned utilities provide bulk water, which is then distributed by utilities owned by local government. The Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities is responsible for water policies at the federal level.

Water resources and water use

Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth, and among the world’s highest consumers of water. Amongst OECD nations Australia is ranked fourth-highest in water use per capita. Total water runoff in 2004–05 was estimated at 243 billion cubic meters (BCM) and total groundwater recharge was estimated at 49 BCM, giving a total inflow to Australia’s water resources of 292 BCM. Over 60 per cent of runoff occurred in northern Australia

Northern Australia

The term northern Australia is generally known to include two State and Territories, being Queensland and the Northern Territory . The part of Western Australia north of latitude 26° south—a definition widely used in law and State government policy—is also usually included...

. Only 6 per cent of Australia’s runoff was in the Murray-Darling Basin

Murray-Darling Basin

The Murray-Darling basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, whose name is derived from its two major rivers, the Murray River and the Darling River. It drains one-seventh of the Australian land mass, and is currently by far the most significant agricultural...

, where 50 per cent of Australia’s water use occurs. Australia’s total large dam storage capacity was 84 BCM. While surface water is well known, groundwater resources are not well known. In 2004–05 the National Water Commission

National Water Commission

The National Water Commission is an independent statutory body within the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities that was established under the National Water Commission Act 2004 to implement the National Water Initiative and reform the broader national water...

undertook water balance assessments for 51 priority geographic areas across Australia. Of these water management areas six were overused (consumptive use was greater than sustainable yield) and seventeen had a high level of consumptive use as a proportion of inflows (consumptive use greater than 30 per cent of inflows). Two water management areas (Great Artesian Basin

Great Artesian Basin

The Great Artesian Basin provides the only reliable source of freshwater through much of inland Australia. The basin is the largest and deepest artesian basin in the world, stretching over a total of , with temperatures measured ranging from 30°C to 100°C...

and Mereenie Sandstone — Alice Springs) had consumptive use greater than total annual inflow. Total water use in Australia in 2004–05 was nearly 80 BCM, with about 75 per cent of this water returned to the environment following in-stream uses such as hydroelectric power generation. Consumptive use of water in the Australian economy in 2004–05 was 18.8 BCM (6.4 per cent of resources), with the agriculture sector the largest user (65 per cent), followed by household use (11 per cent). Residential water use declined from 243 liter/person/day in 2003 to 191 in 2007.

According to the Prime Minister's office, as the impact of climate change intensifies, Australia faces increasingly acute long-term water shortages with lower rainfall, rivers drying up and dam water levels falling. In most parts of Australia, surface water stored in reservoirs is the main source for municipal water supply, making water supply vulnerable to droughts

Drought in Australia

; only a much smaller share comes from groundwater. Non-conventional water sources, such as seawater desalination, play an increasing role in Australia's water supply, with one desalination plant commissioned to supply Perth

Kwinana Desalination Plant

and others being built in Sydney

Kurnell Desalination Plant

The Sydney Desalination Plant is a drinking water supply project operated by Veolia Water Australia Pty Ltd on behalf of Sydney Water, Sydney's State-owned water supply corporation. It is located in the Kurnell industrial estate area, in Sydney's southern suburbs. The desalination plant itself was...

, the Gold Coast

Gold Coast desalination project

The Gold Coast desalination project is a reverse osmosis, water desalination plant that supplies water to the Gold Coast and South East Queensland via the South East Queensland Water Grid, located in Tugun....

, Melbourne

Melbourne desalination plant

The Wonthaggi Desalination Plant is a water desalination plant currently under construction on the Bass Coast near Wonthaggi, in southern Victoria, Australia, scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011...

, Adelaide

Port Stanvac Desalination Plant

The Port Stanvac Desalination plant is a SWRO desalination plant currently under construction at Lonsdale, South Australia which will provide the city of Adelaide with a significant amount of drinking water...

, and another is planned to be built at Port Augusta

Point Paterson Desalination Plant

The Point Paterson Desalination Plant is a planned municipal-scale solar-powered desalination plant with land-based brine disposal just outside Port Augusta, South Australia. The Point Paterson Project utilises a salt flat owned by a salt company but which has not been in use for solar salt...

.

The use of reclaimed water

Reclaimed water

Reclaimed water or recycled water, is former wastewater that is treated to remove solids and certain impurities, and used in sustainable landscaping irrigation or to recharge groundwater aquifers...

— the non-potable reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation of green spaces, golf courses, agricultural crops or industrial uses — is common and increasing in Australia. Among the 20 largest water utilities in Australia, the largest volume of recycled water supplied was by SA Water

SA Water

SA Water was established by the proclamation of the South Australian Water Corporation Act 1994 on 1 July 1995. Its predecessor was known as Engineering and Water Supply Department . E&WS evolved from the Waterworks and Drainage Commission, which was established in 1856...

in Adelaide (25,047 ML or 29.6% of sewage collected), while the lowest volume of recycled water was by ACTEW in Canberra (2,104 ML or 7.4% of sewage collected).

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

receives its drinking water from five sources:

the River Torrens
River Torrens
The River Torrens is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains and was one of the reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the Adelaide Hills near Mount Pleasant, across the Adelaide Plains, past the city centre and empties...

, flowing from the Adelaide Hills
Adelaide Hills
The Adelaide Hills are part of the Mount Lofty Ranges, east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is unofficially centred on the largest town in the area, Mount Barker, which has a population of around 29,000 and is also one of Australia's fastest growing towns.- History :The...

through the city into the sea, with storage provided in the Warren Reservoir, Millbrook Reservoir
Millbrook Reservoir
Millbrook Reservoir is a 16,000 Megalitre artificial water storage reservoir in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. It was built during from 1914–1918 during World War I to control water flows in the upper River Torrens and provide gravity fed water to Adelaide's eastern suburbs.It is...

, Kangaroo Creek Reservoir
Kangaroo Creek Reservoir
Kangaroo Creek Reservoir is a 19,160 megalitre artificial water storage reservoir in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. It was built from 1966 to 1969, by damming the River Torrens east of Cudlee Creek. The stored water is used to maintain the Hope Valley Reservoir's level via discharge...

and a reservoir in Hope Valley
Hope Valley, Western Australia
Hope Valley is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the Town of Kwinana. Its postcode is 6165....

;
the Onkaparinga River
Onkaparinga River
The Onkaparinga River runs from its source between Mount Torrens and Charleston in the Mount Lofty Ranges, and flows south westerly to an estuary at Port Noarlunga. The catchment is over 500 km² in area, and is in part located in the Onkaparinga River National Park.The Onkaparinga River is the...

south of Adelaide with storage in the Mount Bold Reservoir
Mount Bold Reservoir
-2007 fire:A bushfire ravaged the Mount Bold Valley area, which includes the properties between Kangarilla and Echunga, during the second week of January 2007. The fire destroyed two houses, gutted over ten sheds and killed livestock and horses. Two people were injured and fencing was damaged. The...

, downstream of which water is diverted by the Clarendon Weir
Clarendon Weir
The Clarendon Weir is a small weir on the Onkaparinga River, near Adelaide in South Australia. Built in 1894–96 as part of the early Onkaparinga Water Scheme, the weir was designed to pool water from the Mount Bold Reservoir, on the Onkaparinga, which is often boosted with water from the River Murray...

via a tunnel to the Happy Valley Reservoir
Happy Valley Reservoir
Constructed when the total population of Adelaide numbered 315,200 the Happy Valley Reservoir now supplies over a half a million people, from Adelaide's southern extent to the city-centre.-Construction:...

on the Field River
Field River
The Field River is located some 20 kilometres south of Adelaide in South Australia. The catchment area of the Field River includes the Happy Valley Reservoir, part of Main South Road and the Southern Expressway and covers a total area of 55.3 km2...

;
The Barossa Reservoir
Barossa Reservoir
Barossa Reservoir is a reservoir in South Australia, built between 1899 and 1902 to supply water to Gawler and other northern country areas. At the time of its completion, the reservoir was hailed as an engineering marvel, and at a total of 36 metres, was the highest in Australia...

, the South Para Reservoir
South Para Reservoir
South Para Reservoir is the second largest reservoir in South Australia, behind Mount Bold Reservoir, and the principal reservoir of the South Para River system...

and the Little Para Reservoir
Little Para Reservoir
Little Para Reservoir is a reservoir in South Australia serving the city of Adelaide. It was built between 1974 and 1977, costing A$11.5 million, and commissioned in January 1979....

north-east of Adelaide;
Most years the flow to these reservoirs is supplemented by water pumped from the River Murray
Murray River
The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...

through two pipelines, one from Mannum
Mannum, South Australia
Mannum is an historic town on the west bank of the Murray River in South Australia, east of Adelaide. At the 2006 census, Mannum had a population of 2,042. Mannum headquarters the Mid Murray Council, and is situated in both the State Electoral District of Schubert and the federal Division of...

to the reservoirs on the River Torrens
River Torrens
The River Torrens is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains and was one of the reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the Adelaide Hills near Mount Pleasant, across the Adelaide Plains, past the city centre and empties...

and the South Para Reservoir and Warren Reservoir, and the other from Murray Bridge to the reservoirs on the Onkaparinga River
Onkaparinga River
The Onkaparinga River runs from its source between Mount Torrens and Charleston in the Mount Lofty Ranges, and flows south westerly to an estuary at Port Noarlunga. The catchment is over 500 km² in area, and is in part located in the Onkaparinga River National Park.The Onkaparinga River is the...

;
The Myponga Reservoir
Myponga Reservoir
The Myponga Reservoir is a reservoir in South Australia, located about 60 km south of Adelaide near the town of Myponga. The reservoir is fed by the Myponga River and other rivers in the Myponga catchment....

on the Myponga river about 60 km south of Adelaide, supplying about 5 per cent of the city's water supply.

The amount of water required from the River Murray varies from about 40 per cent of Adelaide’s water needs in a normal rainfall year to as much as 90 per cent in a dry year. At full capacity the above-mentioned reservoirs hold about 200 million cubic meters of water, or a little less than 1 year's supply for metropolitan Adelaide.

A desalination plant in Port Stanvac

Port Stanvac Desalination Plant

has been approved, which will provide up to one-third of Adelaide's water needs when built in 2012. A smaller plant near Port Augusta

Point Paterson Desalination Plant

has also been proposed, which will supply almost all the residential water needs of towns on the Spencer Gulf

Spencer Gulf

The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. The Gulf is 322 km long and 129 km wide at its mouth. The western shore of the Gulf is the Eyre Peninsula, while the eastern side is the...

Brisbane and Gold Coast

Water storage, treatment and bulk supply for Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

is handled by SEQ Water

SEQ Water

Seqwater provides bulk water storage and treatment services to the SEQ Water Grid. In addition, Seqwater also supplies water to smaller communities in the region not connected to the Grid....

, which sells on to Brisbane Water

Brisbane Water (utility)

Brisbane Water was a business of the Brisbane City Council in Brisbane, the capital of the Australian state of Queensland. Brisbane Water was responsible for the water supply system and wastewater removal and treatment throughout the metropolitan area....

for distribution to the Greater Brisbane area. Water for the area is stored in three major dams; Wivenhoe Dam

Wivenhoe Dam

Wivenhoe Dam is a dam across the Brisbane River a little way upstream from Locker Creek. The dam creates the artificial Lake Wivenhoe. The dam wall is located about by road from the centre of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia....

on the Brisbane River

Brisbane River

The Brisbane River is the longest river in south east Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay. John Oxley was the first European to explore the river who named it after the Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane in 1823...

, Somerset

Lake Somerset

Lake Somerset is an artificial lake created by the Somerset Dam on the Stanley River in South East Queensland. The dam was completed in 1953 providing flood mitigation and water storage for the cities of Brisbane and Ipswich and is the site of a small 4 MW hydroelectric power station.At full...

on the Stanley River

Stanley River (Queensland)

The Stanley River in Queensland is the main tributary of the Brisbane River. The Stanley River valley extends roughly 35 km westwards from the area south of Maleny to Kilcoy before veering southwards....

and North Pine

North Pine Dam

North Pine Dam is built across the North Pine River, north-west of Brisbane, within Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia.The damming of North Pine River created an artificial lake called Lake Samsonvale to secure a supply of drinking water for the Moreton Bay region and Brisbane's northern...

on the North Pine River

North Pine River

North Pine River flows from the D'Aguilar Range in the Mount Mee State Forest, approximately 50 km north-west of Brisbane, to its convergence with South Pine River at Lawnton, Queensland, Australia.-History:...

. Water is also provided by a number of smaller dams that are connected via the SEQ Water Grid. The Wivenhoe Dam is shared with the Gold Coast

Gold Coast, Queensland

, which has two more water sources, the Hinze Dam

Hinze Dam

The Hinze Dam, also known as Advancetown Lake, supplies most of the water provided to Gold Coast City in Queensland, Australia. Some water is drawn from Little Nerang Dam and until recently northern suburbs received water from Wivenhoe Dam. It was completed in 1976 and expanded in 1989. Advancetown...

and the smaller Little Nerang Dam

Little Nerang Dam

The Little Nerang Dam is a secondary source of water supply to Gold Coast City in Queensland, Australia. It was completed in 1962 and is managed by Gold Coast Water. It is located on the Little Nerang Creek directly upstream from the Hinze Dam. Its catchment includes the Springbrook Plateau...

, both on the Nerang River

Nerang River

The Nerang River is a river that begins in the McPherson Range in the Gold Coast hinterland and runs through Gold Coast City in South East Queensland, Australia...

. Groundwater from North Stradbroke Island

North Stradbroke Island

North Stradbroke Island is an Australian island in the state of Queensland, 30 km southeast of the capital Brisbane. Before 1896 the island was part of the Stradbroke Island. In that year a storm separated it from South Stradbroke Island, forming the Jumpinpin Channel. It is known...

is also transferred to the mainland to supplement the area's water supply. Gold Coast Water

Gold Coast Water

Allconnex Water is the water and wastewater business for the Gold Coast, Logan and Redland districts. It was established on 1 July 2010 under the Queensland State Government’s South East Queensland Water Reform...

has commenced construction of a desalination plant

Gold Coast desalination project

at Tugun

Tugun, Queensland

Tugun is a beachside suburb on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 Census, Tugun had a population of 4,821.Its name is believed to have derived from an Indigenous word of unknown dialect meaning "breaking waves"....

which was commissioned in 2009. A Southern Regional Pipeline is also under construction that will share Gold Coast water with the rest of South East Queensland

South East Queensland

South East Queensland is a region of the state of Queensland in Australia, which contains approximately two-thirds of the state population...

. The construction of Traveston Crossing Dam

Traveston Crossing Dam

Traveston Crossing Dam was a proposed water project that was initiated by the government of Queensland, Australia, in 2006 as a result of a prolonged drought situation which saw South-East Queensland's dam catchment area receive record-low rain...

and an associated long-distance pipeline as well as a pipeline from the existing Boondooma Dam

Boondooma Dam

Boondooma Dam is a dam on the Boyne River in the South Burnett region of Queensland, Australia. In 1983, the dam was constructed across the Boyne River below its confluence with the Stuart River....

have also been proposed to provide the growing population of Southeast Queensland with water.

The A$ 2.5bn Western Corridor Recycled Water Project

Western Corridor Recycled Water Project

The Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme is Australia's largest recycled water project, located in South East Queensland. It is a key part of the SEQ Water Grid being constructed by the Queensland Government in response to population growth, climate change and severe drought.The A$2.5 billion...

whose construction began in 2006 includes the construction of three new wastewater treatment plants, 200 km of pipelines and 12 pumping stations. It will provide reclaimed water

Reclaimed water

Reclaimed water or recycled water, is former wastewater that is treated to remove solids and certain impurities, and used in sustainable landscaping irrigation or to recharge groundwater aquifers...

to industrial users, agricultural users and to supplement drinking water supplies in Wivenhoe Dam

Wivenhoe Dam

.

A severe drought in 2005-2007 triggered major investments, including the Tugun desalination plant and the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project. When rainfall became abundant in 2008-2010 and reservoirs were full, the state government decided in 2010 to put the Tugun plant in stand-by mode, operating at less than 10% of capacity, and to close down a new advanced wastewater treatment plant on Gibson Island in order to save power and chemicals.

Canberra

Canberra draws its water supply from three separate catchment systems: The Cotter River

Cotter River

The Cotter River is a fresh water river in the Australian Capital Territory. It is a tributary of the Murrumbidgee River and part of Murray-Darling Basin. The Cotter River is one of two rivers—the Queanbeyan River is the other—that meet the water supply needs of the Canberra and...

catchment, within the ACT

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

; the Googong system on the Queanbeyan River

Queanbeyan River

The Queanbeyan River is a tributary of the Molonglo River and part of Murray-Darling Basin. The river is 70 kilometres in length and the river catchment is 96,000 hectares in size...

in New South Wales; and the Murrumbidgee River

Murrumbidgee River

The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...

, at the Cotter Pump Station. All these rivers drain into the Murray River

Murray River

The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...

Melbourne

Some 90% of Melbourne

Melbourne

's drinking water comes from uninhabited mountain ash forests high up in the Yarra Ranges east of Melbourne. More than 157,000 hectares has been reserved for the primary purpose of harvesting water. These water supply catchments have been closed to the public for more than 100 years. Melbourne's water supply system is based on the principle that it is better to start with the highest quality source water than having to treat it to reach required standards. According to Melbourne Water

Melbourne Water

Melbourne Water is a government owned statutory authority that controls much of the water system in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia including the reservoirs, and thesewerage and drainage system that services the city.- Overview :...

, Melbourne is one of only about five cities in the world that has such protected catchments.
Water from the forests flows through streams in reservoirs, which provide security of supply for times of drought. One of these reservoirs is formed by the Thomson Dam on the Thomson River

Thomson River (Victoria)

The Thomson River is a river in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It starts below Newlands at the north western end of the Baw Baw Plateau at an elevation of 972 m, where it shares a watershed with the Yarra River and Tanjil River, and ends at an elevation of 1.55 m merging with the Latrobe River...

located about 130 km east of Melbourne in Gippsland

Gippsland

Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...

, from where water flows through a 19 km long tunnel through the Great Dividing Range

Great Dividing Range

The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...

into the Upper Yarra Reservoir

Upper Yarra Dam

The Upper Yarra Reservoir is located east of Melbourne, beyond Warburton within the locality of Reefton. Water from Upper Yarra Reservoir supplies towns in the upper Yarra Valley, and Silvan Reservoir, which transfers water to most parts of Melbourne....

and then onto Silvan Reservoir for distribution as drinking water in Melbourne. In recent years, drought has resulted in depletion of much of the water in the reservoir of the Thomson Dam.

In June 2007, the Victorian State Government announced a new plan to provide water security for Victoria's growing population and economy by diversifying and boosting water supplies, networking the State's water resources in a Victorian Water Grid and enabling a rapid and flexible response to changing future water needs. The plan includes A$4.9 billion of projects to secure Melbourne and Victoria's water supplies for the long term, including:

the 150 billion litre per year, A$ 2.2 billion Melbourne desalination plant
Melbourne desalination plant
The Wonthaggi Desalination Plant is a water desalination plant currently under construction on the Bass Coast near Wonthaggi, in southern Victoria, Australia, scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011...

in Wonthaggi which would be the largest desalination plant in Australia, supplying 30% of Melbourne's water needs, for which a Build-Operate Transfer (BOT) contract was awarded in mid-2009 to a consortium led by the French multinational SUEZ
SUEZ
Suez S.A. was a leading French-based multinational corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, with operations primarily in water, electricity and natural gas supply, and waste management. Suez was result of a 1997 merger between the Compagnie de Suez and Lyonnaise des Eaux, a...

;
a major irrigation upgrade in the Food Bowl in Northern Victoria to deliver water savings to be shared equally between irrigators, the environment, and Melbourne; and
a major expansion of the Victorian Water Grid with pipelines to connect Melbourne's water system with the desalination plant and Northern irrigation upgrades.

These projects are expected to deliver a 50 per cent boost to Melbourne's water supply within five years and allow water to be moved where it is needed most.

Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

receives most of its water from a series of reservoirs. Since 2001, southern Western Australia has suffered severe drought conditions. Average inflows to Perth’s metropolitan dams have dropped to less than 90 gigalitres a year compared with 340 gigalitres in 1975. In 2006, Perth became the first Australian city to operate a reverse osmosis

Reverse osmosis

Reverse osmosis is a membrane technical filtration method that removes many types of large molecules and ions from solutions by applying pressure to the solution when it is on one side of a selective membrane. The result is that the solute is retained on the pressurized side of the membrane and...

seawater desalination plant, the Kwinana Desalination Plant

Kwinana Desalination Plant

, which as of 2007 supplies 17% of the city's drinking water supply. To mitigate the drought, a second seawater desalination plant is envisaged in Binningup

Binningup Desalination Plant

The Binningup Desalination Plant is a desalination plant being built near Binningup, Western Australia, about south of Perth. It will supply water to the state capital Perth, as well as the nearby regional city of Bunbury and is known as the Southern Seawater Desalination Project It is designed...

near Bunbury

Bunbury, Western Australia

The port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...

Sydney

More than four million people in Sydney, the Illawarra

Illawarra

Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region. It encompasses the cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven and the town of Kiama. The central region contains Lake...

, the Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands rely on the catchments of the Warragamba

Warragamba River

The Warragamba River is a tributary of the Nepean River, and hence of the Hawkesbury River, in New South Wales, Australia. It is best known for being the location of the Warragamba Dam and Lake Burragorang, which form a major part of the water supply to the Sydney region.Prior to the creation of...

, Upper Nepean

Upper Nepean Scheme

The Upper Nepean Scheme is a series of dams in the catchments of the Cataract, Cordeaux, Avon and Nepean rivers of New South Wales, Australia. The scheme includes four dams and supplies the Macarthur and Illawarra regions, the Wollondilly Shire, and metropolitan Sydney.- History :The Upper Nepean...

, Blue Mountains, Shoalhaven

Shoalhaven River

The Shoalhaven River is a river rising from the Southern Tablelands and flowing into the ocean near Nowra on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia.- History :...

, and Woronora

Woronora River

The Woronora River flows north from near Helensburgh into the Georges River between Como and Illawong.- Crossings :The river is crossed by high level and low level road bridges and a footbridge in Woronora, New South Wales...

river systems to supply their drinking water. This is about 60 per cent of the population of New South Wales

New South Wales

. These catchments cover an area of almost 16,000 square kilometres. They extend from north of Lithgow in the upper Blue Mountains, to the source of the Shoalhaven River near Cooma in the south — and from Woronora in the east to the source of the Wollondilly River west of Crookwell. The catchments are the source of the raw bulk water stored in reservoirs, which is then supplied to Sydney Water

Sydney Water

Sydney Water is a New South Wales government owned corporation that provides drinking water, wastewater and some stormwater services to Sydney, Illawarra and the Blue Mountains, in Australia...

, Shoalhaven City Council and Wingecarribee Shire Council. Given low water levels in reservoirs due to drought Sydney Water announced in 2007 it would build the Kurnell Desalination Plant

Kurnell Desalination Plant

, powered by wind energy, that would supply up to 15% of the drinking water supply to Sydney, the Illawarra and the Blue Mountains. It is the largest water supply project for Sydney since the Warragamba Dam was opened in 1960.

Map of the catchment areas managed by the Sydney Water Corporation

Policy and regulation

The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia states that natural resource policy, including that relating to water, is a responsibility of the States: "The Commonwealth shall not, by any law or regulation of trade or commerce, abridge the right of a State or of the residents therein to the reasonable use of the waters of rivers for conservation or irrigation." (Section 100) However, this legal position has become less clear as a result of decisions by the Australian High Court. The Commonwealth Government has taken a much greater role in the Australian water sector in the early 21st century. The Ministry for Climate Change and Water

Minister for Climate Change and Water (Australia)

The Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency is Greg Combet. Penny Wong was the first minister with this title, appointed on 3 December 2007 and amended on 26 February 2010. The Minister administers his portfolio through the Department of Climate Change and Energy...

is in charge of water policies at the federal level.

An example of the expanding role of the Commonwealth in the management of water resources is the federal takeover of the Murray-Darling Basin

Murray-Darling Basin

. In April 2007, amid a major drought, John Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

, then Prime Minister of Australia, announced that the region was facing an "unprecedentedly dangerous" water shortage and that water might have to be reserved for "critical urban" water supplies. The Federal Government proposed a A$10 billion Commonwealth take-over of the Murray-Darling Basin

Murray-Darling Basin

, arguing that effective management could not be undertaken by competing state governments. While the states of New South Wales

New South Wales

, Queensland

Queensland

and South Australia

South Australia

as well as the Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

accepted the proposal, the state of Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

initially refused to co-operate, arguing that its irrigators would be disadvantaged and that it would challenge the takeover in the High Court

High Court of Australia

The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...

. Legislation to create the Murray-Darling Basin Commission

Murray-Darling Basin Commission

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority is the principal government agency in charge of managing the Murray-Darling Basin in an integrated and sustainable manner. The Authority is the statutory agency that manages, in conjunction with the Basin states, the Murray–Darling Basin’s water resources in the...

was passed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in August 2007 in the form of the Water Act of 2007. In March 2008, Premier John Brumby

John Brumby

John Mansfield Brumby , is an Australian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became Premier after the resignation of Steve Bracks. He also served as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. He contested his first election...

indicated that the Victorian government

Government of Victoria

The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...

would participate in the program, in return for $1 billion to upgrade irrigation and continue water security for farmers.

National Water Initiative. In 1994 the Council of Australian Governments

Council of Australian Governments

The Council of Australian Governments is an organisation consisting of the federal government, the governments of the six states and two mainland territories and the Australian Local Government Association. It was established in May 1992 after agreement by the then Prime Minister, Premiers and...

(COAG) agreed on a Water Reform Agenda to work towards reform in the water industry at the national level. In 2004, this was succeeded by the formation of the National Water Commission and the adoption of the National Water Initiative (NWI). The NWI "aims at increasing the productivity and efficiency of Australia 's water use and establishing clear pathways to return all water systems – rivers and groundwater – to environmentally sustainable levels of extraction". The government has also established Drinking Water Guidelines as part of a National Water Quality Management Strategy.

The Government of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...

had announced that it would invest in greater use of recycled water

Reclaimed water

Reclaimed water or recycled water, is former wastewater that is treated to remove solids and certain impurities, and used in sustainable landscaping irrigation or to recharge groundwater aquifers...

, water desalination and stormwater through a $1 billion urban water infrastructure fund. The Government also announced that it would assist households to install water and energy efficient products, with rebates for rainwater tank

Rainwater tank

A rainwater tank is a water tank used to collect and store rain water runoff, typically from rooftops via rain gutters...

s and solar hot water

Solar hot water

Solar water heating or solar hot water systems comprise several innovations and many mature renewable energy technologies that have been well established for many years...

.

State-level regulation. Various state agencies regulate water supply and sanitation in each state, with different arrangements found throughout Australia. State agencies with responsibtilities in the sector include Water Commissions, Environmental Protection Agencies and Competition Authorities. They operate under different Departments (Ministries) such as Natural Resources and Water Departments and Trade Departments. For example, in Queensland under the Water Act 2000 water policy is the responsibility of the Queensland Water Commission

Queensland Water Commission

The Queensland Water Commission is a Queensland Government agency established to develop long term water supply strategies. The Commission is chaired by Mary Boydell and the current chief executive officer is John Bradley....

, which is under the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy and the Minister of Trade.

Service provision

At the local level, commercialisation and corporatisation of many Australian urban water businesses has led to management responsibilities being vested in commercial utilities, in contrast to earlier arrangements where services were provided directly by an arm of government. The role of the utility's board members is to provide commercial skill and focus, as well as to buffer the organisation from arbitrary political interference. The private sector is involved primarily through Build-Operate-Transfer

Build-Operate-Transfer

Build-own-operate-transfer or build-operate-transfer is a form of project financing, wherein a private entity receives a concession from the private or public sector to finance, design, construct, and operate a facility stated in the concession contract...

(BOT) contracts for major treatment plants, including desalination plants.

The institutional arrangements for service provision vary among States and Territories. In parts of Queensland

Queensland

and in Tasmania

Tasmania

, for example, local government is responsible for the provision of water services. In other states and territories, different arrangements have evolved. In New South Wales

New South Wales

, Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

and Southeast Queensland, there are separate municipal retail service providers and state bulk service providers that cover large parts of each state. In other states, such as South Australia

South Australia

, Western Australia

Western Australia

and the Northern Territories

Northern Territories

Northern Territories may refer to several geographic locations:, a term used by the Japanese to refer to the territory disputed with Russia. See Kuril Islands dispute...

integrated state-level water utilities are in charge of both bulk water supply and retail distribution.

South East Queensland has reformed its water sector in 2008. Under the new structure four state-owned authorities (Seqwater, LinkWater and the SEQ Water Grid Manager) are in charge of bulk water supply:

Seqwater supplies water from conventional sources such as dams, weirs and treatment plants as well as water from non-conventional sources such as the Gold Coast Desalination Plant and the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project
Western Corridor Recycled Water Project
The Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme is Australia's largest recycled water project, located in South East Queensland. It is a key part of the SEQ Water Grid being constructed by the Queensland Government in response to population growth, climate change and severe drought.The A$2.5 billion...

.
LinkWater owns the transport infrastructure, and
the SEQ Water Grid Manager
SEQ Water Grid Manager
The SEQ Water Grid Manager is a Government-owned statutory body responsible for managing the strategic operation of the SEQ Water Grid. The SEQ Water Grid Manager's role is to manage the SEQ Water Grid to maintain water security and quality for the region cost effectively, while balancing the needs...

operates the transport infrastructure.

There are three retail utilities , each owned by a group of local governments:

Queensland Urban Utilities
Queensland Urban Utilities
Queensland Urban Utilities is responsible for the delivery of water and wastewater services across five key council areas in South East Queensland, including the Brisbane metropolitan area. In 2010 QUU was formed by the merging of water assets from the local councils of Brisbane, Ipswich, Scenic...

, which distributes water in five council regions (Brisbane, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim and Somerset).
Unity Water serving the Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay,
and Allconnex serves Logan.

In Sydney, New South Wales, a catchment authority (Sydney Catchment Authority

Sydney Catchment Authority

The Sydney Catchment Authority is a New South Wales, Australia Government agency created in 1999. The SCA manages and protects Sydney's drinking water catchments and catchment infrastructure, and supplies bulk water to its customers, including Sydney Water and a number of local councils.The SCA's...

) has been established to supply water in bulk to the retail water and wastewater utility Sydney Water

Sydney Water

Sydney Water is a New South Wales government owned corporation that provides drinking water, wastewater and some stormwater services to Sydney, Illawarra and the Blue Mountains, in Australia...

, a statutory State owned corporation, wholly owned by the New South Wales Government.

In Melbourne, Victoria, three government-owned companies (City West Water Ltd., South East Water Ltd., and Yarra Valley Water

Yarra Valley Water

Yarra Valley Water is a retail water company owned by the State Government of Victoria .They provide water and sewer services to about 1.5 million people in the Melbourne, Australia area....

Ltd.) are the retailers and the wholesaler is a government-owned corporation, Melbourne Water

Melbourne Water

. The wholesaler also controls the catchment for most of its supply.

In Adelaide, South Australia (SA), water and sanitation services are provided by SA Water

SA Water

. In 1996 the SA Government awarded United Water a 15-year contract to manage and operate the metropolitan Adelaide water and wastewater systems on behalf of SA Water. SA Water retains ownership of all infrastructure, sets service standards, and implements the government’s pricing policy. SA Water also maintains control of all asset investment decisions, billing and revenue collection.

In Western Australia

Western Australia

the Water Corporation

Water Corporation

-Overview:The Water Corporation is the principal supplier of water, wastewater and drainage services throughout the state of Western Australia...

, a government-owned corporation, provides urban water services.

In Canberra, and the Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

generally, a public-private multi-utility partnership (ACTEW) provides services. A government-owned multi-utility, the Power and Water Corporation

Power and Water Corporation

Power and Water Corporation is a Northern Territory Government owned corporation in the Northern Territory. Power and Water is the Northern Territory's premier provider of electricity, water and sewerage services. The Power and Water Corporation was formed on 1 July 2002, taking over from the...

, provides services to the larger and less remote communities in the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

, including Alice Springs and Darwin

Darwin, Northern Territory

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...

.

Most organisations providing urban water services in Australia have experienced some degree of organisational reform in the 1990s, which has clarified accountabilities by separating policy, regulatory and commercial (operational) functions. The accepted wisdom is that this separation provides urban water businesses with clear commercial goals of customer service, while safeguarding public health and achieving environmental compliance in a sound business operation, free of other conflicting objectives.

For a brief profile of each of the 33 of the largest water companies in Australia see: WSAA Members

Community consultation

The Water Reform Agenda, agreed in 1994, adopted the principle of public consultation by government agencies and service providers when change and/or new initiatives were being contemplated involving water resources. Subsequently the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines emphasised the right of communities to participate in the development of policies relating to their water supply. The Guidelines also provide advice on how customers should be involved in considering options for effective and acceptable monitoring and reporting on performance of their water supply, and on the frequency of such reporting. The Water Reform Agenda also mentions the need for the public to be informed of the cause and effect relationship between infrastructure performance, standards of service and related costs, with a view to promoting levels of service that represent the best value for money to the community.

Water tariffs

In Australia, most water businesses have changed from a charging system based largely on property value to one based on actual water consumed (a user-pays policy), in line with the Water Reform Agenda. Hunter Water in the Newcastle area

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

of New South Wales pioneered this policy in Australia in the 1980s and reported a fall in household water consumption of 30 per cent over previous trends. This experience encouraged other water authorities to adopt the policy with a view to managing demand for water.

However, low-income households in Australia spend in proportional terms much more on utility services than high-income households. The implication is that increases in the price of utility services, if not accompanied by other compensation, will have a regressive and disproportionately negative impact on low-income households. It is generally expected that with the advent of expensive desalination water tariffs will have to increase in Australia.

Across Australia, the average typical annual residential bill for water supply and sewerage services was A$713 in 2007 (US$557 using the January 2007 exchange rate of 1.28). In South East Queensland the average annual water bill of only A$465 in 2005, but that it could increase to A$1,346 by 2017 due to increasing bulk water costs.

Investment

In the capital cities alone, over A$2 billion of expenditure was undertaken in 2007/2008 (US$1.74 billion using the January 2008 exchange rate of 1.15). This expenditure is unprecedented in the industry. Urban water utilities invested A$835 million in replacing old and under-performing assets and A$535 million in maintaining asset reliability.

Demand management and water conservation

Demand management measures to encourage consumers to use less water include advertising, education, pricing and appliance redesign. Furthermore, the use of alternatives to conventional water supply such as effluent reuse

Reclaimed water

Reclaimed water or recycled water, is former wastewater that is treated to remove solids and certain impurities, and used in sustainable landscaping irrigation or to recharge groundwater aquifers...

, rainwater harvesting

Rainwater harvesting

Rainwater harvesting is the accumulating and storing of rainwater for reuse before it reaches the aquifer. It has been used to provide drinking water, water for livestock, water for irrigation, as well as other typical uses. Rainwater collected from the roofs of houses and local institutions can...

and greywater

Greywater

Greywater is wastewater generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing, which can be recycled on-site for uses such as landscape irrigation and constructed wetlands...

use are also being encouraged. Some water businesses in Australia have opted for restrictions on water use to conserve water supplies and minimise capital expenditure. A series of restriction levels, depending on remaining storage capacity in reservoirs, can curb the maximum daily consumption during drought periods. For example, several water authorities in very hot and dry regions of Australia have adopted a cooperative policy with consumers to restrict peak water usage on very hot days or to restrict garden watering to periods in which it is more effective.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Water resources and water use

Adelaide

Brisbane and Gold Coast

Canberra

Melbourne

Perth

Sydney

Policy and regulation

Service provision

Community consultation

Water tariffs

Investment

Demand management and water conservation

See also

External links