Sydney's Desalination Plant, New South Wales
Since February 2010, drinking water is being supplied to the city of Sydney by Sydney's Desalination Plant managed by Veolia Water.
Veolia Water is now operating and maintaining the plant and intake/outlet structures under a 20 year contract. The city of Sydney is solely reliant on surrounding dams and rain for its drinking water.
The plant can supply an average of 250 megalitres of safe drinking water a day.
This is the equivalent of approximately 15 per cent of Sydney's water supply.
Seawater is treated using reverse osmosis which pushes seawater through membranes. Salt and any other impurities are removed, producing freshwater.
The plant is also designed to enable future expansion. If required, the plant can be quickly and cost effectively increased in capacity to produce an additional 250 megalitres per day, bringing the total capacity of the plant to 500 megalitres per day.
