desalination plant

The desalination plant at Kurnell is at present the second largest plant in the world. An 18 kilometre pipeline connects the plant to Sydney’s water supply at Erskineville. The following is a summary of the performance of the Potts Hill water delivery system, which incorporates water from the desalination plant.

Potts Hill water delivery system Summary of performance 2009–10

Delivery system summary

Source water Population Filtration plant Volume of treated water (June 2010) supplied Prospect 374,208 million litres* 1,428,890 Sydney desalination plant Kurnell 19,952 million litres * Total volume of water supplied from Prospect water filtration plant.

Drinking water quality results for tests taken from customer’s taps#

Results # Average Characteristics ADWG* performance criteria^ meeting Met ADWG* result criteria (%) E. coli (orgs/100mL) At least 98% of results contain no E. coli <1 100 Yes Fluoride (mg/L) At least 95% of results 0.9 to 1.5 mg/L 1.03 100 Yes Free chlorine (mg/L) At least 95% of results less than 5 mg/L 0.00 100 Yes Monochloramine At least 95% of results less than 3 mg/L 1.09 100 Yes (mg/L) Turbidity (NTU) Average of results less than 5 NTU 0.11 100 Yes True colour (HU) Average of results less than 15 HU <2 100 Yes Trihalomethanes 95% of results less than 0.25 mg/L 0.035 100 Yes (mg/L) pH (pH units) Average of results 6.5 to 8.5 7.92 100 Yes Iron (mg/L) Average of results less than 0.3 mg/L 0.013 100 Yes # Key characteristics only. All test results are available on the Sydney Water website www.sydneywater.com.au/waterquality. * Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, NH&MRC 2004. ^ Assessment over 12 months.

No Cryptosporidium oocysts nor any Giardia cysts were detected in filtered samples from the Prospect water filtration plant. There is no guideline value in the ADWG for Cryptosporidium or Giardia. However, under the guidance of NSW Health, Sydney Water (in conjunction with the Sydney Catchment Authority) monitors the raw and filtered drinking water for Cryptosporidium and Giardia. For the Sydney desalination plant, testing for Cryptosporidium and Giardia is not required.

Water quality results for E. coli, turbidity and total chlorine for tests taken from customer’s taps 2006 to 2010

99.79% 100% 99.95% 100% 100% 100% 2.00 1.80 90% 1.60 1.40 1.15 1.16 1.18 80% 1.10 1.10 1.20 1.00 70% 0.80 Percentage

0.60 NTU and mg/L 60% 0.40 0.13 0.15 0.14 0.12 0.11 0.20 50% 0.00 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Year ending 30 June

% of results containing no E. coli Average turbidity (NTU) Average total chlorine (mg/L)