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NSW

Environment Protection Authority

(EPA)

Presentation to Sydney Coastal

Councils Group Technical Committee

7 May 2015

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EPA’s role and regulation of Sydney Water

EPA is the appropriate regulatory authority of Sydney Water’s

activities under the Protection of the Environment Operations

Act (POEO Act)

• licensed activities

• non - licensed activities

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Key areas of EPA focus in relation to Sydney

Water activities

• Water quality impacts

• Nutrients in inland waters

• Odours

• Noise from construction and maintenance

operations

• Risks to human health

• Risks to visual and recreational amenity

EPA regulation of Sydney Water activities / operations

EPA has both a reactive and strategic aspect to its

regulation of Sydney Water

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Reactive response

• Auditing

• Incidents

• reports to Environment Line (public and Sydney

Water)

• Compliance with licences and POEO Act

• Investigations and regulatory action

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Recent EPA Regulatory Responses

The EPA focuses its

regulatory effort on risk

Sydney Water has been

subject to regulatory

action by the EPA

Fines have recently

increased

EPA’s key strategic issues for Sydney Water

Wet Weather Overflow

Abatement program

Hawkesbury - Nepean

Nutrient Management

Strategy

Dry weather overflow &

leakage programs

Winmalee STP Upgrade

Potable Water

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IPART’s review of Sydney Water’s Operating Licence

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IPART is a separate regulator

for Sydney Water

EPA provided comment on

recent review of Sydney

Water’s OL.

The EPA does not have a role

in determining Priority Sewage

Program obligations.

NSW Environmental Trust Grant Project –

Sewer leak investigations training course for council officers

Joint project with Sydney Water

Private sewer accounts for 50% of

Sydney’s sewerage network

Council is ARA for private sewer

Provide training to Councils to

detect, investigate and regulate

private sewer leaks

Workshop and fieldtrip

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Review of Sydney Water’s sewage treatment

system licences

• 5 year statutory review of Sydney Water’s 23 STS

EPLs

• EPA is not proposing any of its own major changes

to licences

• Focus of this Review is seeking public feedback on

licences

Sydney Water STS licences under review

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Licence

Number

Sewage Treatment

System

Location of Sewage Treatment Plant

1784 Warriewood Warriewood road, Warriewood, NSW 2102

378 Northern Suburbs Blue Fish Road, Manly, NSW 2095

1728 Cronulla Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell, NSW 2231

1688 Bondi Military Road, Bondi, NSW 2026

372 Southern Suburbs Fishermans Road, Malabar, NSW 2036

750 Hornsby Heights Pike Road, Hornsby Heights, NSW 2077

1695 West Hornsby off Valley Road, Hornsby, NSW 2077

12438 Brooklyn lot 4 Brooklyn Road, Brooklyn, NSW 2083

1725 Castle Hill Wrights Road, Kellyville, NSW 2155

190 North Richmond cnr Bells Line of Road & Crooked Lane, North Richmond, NSW

2754

1409 Penrith Castlereagh Road, Penrith, NSW 2750

1729 St Marys off links Road, St Marys, NSW 2760

1675 West Camden corner of Sheathers and Ferguson lanes, Grasmere, NSW

2570

1724 Quakers Hill Quakers Road (near Melrose Avenue), Quakers Hill, NSW

2763

1796 Riverstone Bandon Road, Vineyard, NSW 2765

1726 Richmond Blacktown Road, Richmond, NSW 2753

211 Shellharbour Junction Road, Shellharbour, NSW 2529

218 Wollongong Port Kembla Road, Wollongong, NSW 2500

2269 Bombo Darien Avenue, Bombo, NSW 2533

1963 Winmalee off Hawkesbury Road, Winmalee, NSW 2777

4965 Rouse Hill Mile End Road, Rouse Hill, NSW 2155

10555 Picton Remembrance Drive, Picton, NSW 2571

12235 Wallacia Nortons Basin Road, Wallacia, NSW 2745

Public consultation for Licence Review

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Comments on conditions

contained in Sydney Water’s

licences

Any concerns about licences

and their operations

Any issues that should be

considered for inclusion in

licences

EPA will review and consider

all submissions

Report responding to Licence

Review submissions on EPA’s

website

Submissions

List of licences, fact sheet and information about the review process

are available on EPA’s websites at

http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/licensing/sydney-water.htm

Copies of licences from EPA’s Public Register at

www.epa.nsw.gov.au/prpoeoapp/

Submissions by 1 May 2015 (but extension granted to SCCG)

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Questions?

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SCCG Presentation – May 2015

Wastewater Servicing

in Sydney

Iain Fairbairn

Wastewater Product Manager

Why do we love the sea?

It is because it has some

potent power to make us

think things we like to think.

Robert Henri (1865-1929)

The Wastewater mission

Protect public health and the environment from wastewater

sources, now and into the future

Provide an efficient and effective service to customers

Engage with customers, stakeholders and regulators on our

service

Sydney’s Wastewater Service Stats

Approximately 4.7 million people serviced by our wastewater

systems – equates to around 1.8 million properties connected

Around 470,000 ML of wastewater collected each year

Own and operate around 24,786 km of wastewater mains

A similar length of privately owned sewer service lines

679 wastewater pumping stations in service

24 Wastewater systems and 30 treatment plants

– 11 coastal plants with ocean discharge

– 19 inland plants with river/creek discharge

23 Environmental Protection Licences for wastewater systems

75% of wastewater treated at Deep Ocean Outfall plants

Coastal Wastewater Systems

Four ocean outfalls (North Head, Bondi, Malabar and

Wollongong)

Primary treatment suitable for deep ocean outfall discharge

Secondary treatment suitable for shoreline discharge

Tertiary treatment required for recycled water production and river

discharges

Sydney beaches and harbour largely free of wastewater pollution

from treatment plant discharges

This result has been confirmed by Beachwatch and our Sewage

Treatment System Impact Monitoring Program

Some impacts of wastewater pollution from overflows, particularly

into local streams and rivers.

Historical Big Wins

2013-14 State of the Beaches

2013-14 State of the Beaches

Current Issues

Incompatible material in sewers

Industrial and commercial waste

Wipes and sanitary products

Fat, oil and grease

Blockages in wastewater pipes - overflows

Infiltration and illegal storm water connections - overflows

Aging infrastructure which is often difficult to maintain

Corrosion and odour in wastewater system

Growth across Sydney

Infill in established suburbs

Greenfield in western Sydney

Current IssuesWastewater Treatment and Discharge

Odour, noise and visual impacts on local neighbours

Wastewater leaks and overflows

If a substantial leak or overflow is detected, ring Sydney Water

immediately on 13 20 90.

24hr call centre will priorities work and dispatch a crew

Most sewer overflows are high priority (P6 or P5)

P6 – get to the site in 1 hr and stop overflow in 3 hrs

P5 – get to site in 3 hrs and stop overflow in 5 hrs

Some jobs are difficult to attend to and access

Many sewer leaks are found to be on private lines

Landowner is responsible to fix these and council is the

appropriate regulatory authority

Sydney Water is keen to help councils to trace private sewer

leaks

Continued Investment 2016-2020Major investment in our infrastructure is continuing.

$365m - Renewal of treatment plant assets

$275m - Renewal of sewer mains

$204m - Stormwater renewals and naturalisation

$152m - Wet Weather Overflow Improvements

$62m - Dry Weather Overflow Abatement Program

$89m - Renewal and upgrade of pumping stations

$56m - Telemetry and Control upgrades (Bondi, Cronulla, Hornsbys)

$51m - Malabar Process and Reliability/Renewals(PARR) Project

$45m - Odour and corrosion in sewer system (Coogee, Malabar

Cronulla and North Head)

$41m – Biosolids processing upgrade at North Head

$7m - Replacement of NSOOS Odour Scrubber

$1.3m - Coastal waterway modelling (Sydney Harbour/Botany Bay)

Future of Wastewater Servicing

Greater community involvement in planning and decision

making

Integrated solutions embracing WSUD concepts

Open and transparent information sharing

Dynamic control of the entire wastewater service

Extracting capacity from existing assets

Real time information available for community

Less prescriptive regulation – risk and effects based

We are keen to work with CouncilsStormwater is a major source of pollution

Lack of coordination to drive successful outcomes

Interrelationship between stormwater and wastewater pollution

Recycling of organic waste through digestion

We have information that we are happy to share

We have capability in water sampling and investigations

We share the same customers, we are on the same journey

THE COAL LOADER

PLATFORM GREEN - ROOF

Presentation for

Sydney Coastal Councils Group

Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability

7 May 2015

David Banbury

Project Manager / Landscape Architect

Open Space & Environmental Services

North Sydney Council

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They're taking it, the shipping push,

As all the rest must go —

The only spot of cliff and bush

That harbour people know.

The spirit of the past is dead

North Sydney has no soul —

The State is cutting down Ball's Head.

To make a wharf for coal.

Verse 1 . The Sacrifice of Balls Head. Henry Lawson, 1916

Working Waterfront

Quarantine Depot

COAL

LOADERFORMER

BP SITE

BALLS HEAD RESERVE

Harbour

Circle WalkCOAL

LOADER

Coal Loader under construction c.1917. Photo: North Sydney Heritage

Centre. Stanton Library

Coal Loader under construction c.1917. Photo: North Sydney Heritage

Centre. Stanton Library

MPG