It's A Stinking Disgrace 

Upgrading Sydney Water’s North Head Sewage Treatment Plant - Latest Update

On 1 May we indicated that there was an interesting difference of opinion in the NSW State Government’s bureaucracy about proposals to increase Sydney Water’s plant capacity at North Head.
 
The difference of opinion arose when the New South Wales Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) accepted the independent consultant’s recommendation that Sydney Water’s proposed expenditure of $40.1 million at should be reduced by $9.2 million.

We can now report that Sydney Water was granted funding to install only one of the two additional digesters sought to treat sewage created by the population growth in the catchment area it services. (Presently over 1 million people)

In the independent consultant’s report that was considered by IPART it was stated: “The case for two digesters appears to be based on growth projections to 2036” and the report listed the projection table below as one of three “KEY DOCUMENTS REVIEWED”.​
 

​This is an interesting table but it is
grossly inaccurate!
 





Let us look at the details:

• The effluent discharge from the plant is projected to rise to 332 mega litres per day in 2036. The actual discharge has exceeded 332 mega litres per day for 10 out of the last 11 years!
  
  
• Sydney Water’s Annual Data Report for 2014/2015 indicates that 399 Mega litres per day was discharged into the ocean during the year. This is 20% higher than the projected discharge for 2036 shown in the table above. 
  
  
• The projected population for 2020 of 1,255,378 people was exceeded in 2014 when the population was estimated to total 1,256,454.

 
This means that IPART based its recommendation on false data.
 
What is the current state of affairs?

1. Sydney Water wants to spend $40.1 million of its own internally generated funds to upgrade its plant at North Head;
   
   
2. The New South Wales State government has decided that it only needs one digester instead of two and reduced Sydney Water’s proposed expenditure by $9.2 million;
   
   
3. Sydney Water says it needs two digesters to process the sewage pumped to North Head;
   
   
4. The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) says they need the two digesters;
   
   
5. The (former) Manly Council supported the installation of the two digesters; 
   
   
6. A number of people in the community made submissions to IPART which supported the installation of the two digesters; and
   
   
7. The New South Wales State Government decision was that they can install only one digester.

 
Where does this leave us?
 
At the present time Sydney Water captures about 30% of the solids that arrive at the plant - the rest is pumped into the ocean. If Sydney Water does not have the equipment to process the sewage then it would appear that one of the following options must occur:

1. The level of solids captured before the effluent is pumped into the ocean will be much less than the 30% currently captured (this would appear to require the current environment protection licence to be amended); or
   
   
2. The length of time that the sewage is treated in the digesters will need to be reduced and this will impact on the level of odours that will emanate from the plant and the trucks that transport the biosolids through the streets of Manly.

 
These options are totally unacceptable.
 
We have some questions for our Premier and local member, Mike Baird.
 
Mr Baird can you tell us:

1. Why is your government ignoring the professional advice you have received from Sydney Water about their equipment requirements?
2. Why are you ignoring the recommendation you have received from the Environment Protection Authority?
3. Why are you prepared to accept a recommendation from IPART that is based upon false premises?
4. Do you intend to amend the current environmental protection licence to permit more sewage to be pumped in the ocean than at present?
5. Are you prepared to accept an increase in the level of odours that come from the North Head treatment plant and from the trucks that move the biosolids through the streets of Manly?
6. Why is your government happy to continue pumping sewage into the ocean from the North Head Sewage Treatment Plant despite the worldwide concern about the level of pollution being dumped in our oceans?

---