FAQs

We have 247 water reservoirs across Sydney, the Illawarra and the Blue Mountains. They help us to supply about 1.5 billion litres of drinking water to over 5.3 million people in their homes and businesses every day.

Our existing reservoir at Marsfield cannot service the expected growth in Prospect North and Ryde. Adding a second reservoir will provide water services to an additional 700,000 people in the area. The New Marsfield Reservoir is one of several projects that will help service growth in the Prospect North and Ryde drinking water catchments. These drinking water catchments currently service a population of 1.56 million, which is expected to increase to 2.04 million by 2031 and 2.26 million by 2046. 

The land at 37 Abuklea Road is owned by Sydney Water and has existing supplementary infrastructure to support a second reservoir to be built. It is very common to have reservoirs located within residential areas like this. There are no other Sydney Water sites within the Marsfield area that meet the technical requirements for a new reservoir. 

Sydney Water owns the land and secured this site a long time ago to include provision and space for this second reservoir, anticipating a future need to service a growing Sydney. The land is zoned as SP2 Infrastructure for the purpose of critical water supply services that will contribute directly to a liveable community and will provide quality drinking water for future generations. 

We considered other positions within our site. The first position was next to the current reservoir on the eastern boundary, near Agincourt Road. This option was ruled out because the new reservoir would be too close to the existing reservoir and would not meet our safety and technical standards during construction and operation. 

The second position was opposite the existing reservoir. This was chosen as the preferred option because it allows enough space for supporting structures and pipes. This location allows full access for the two reservoirs to be maintained. It also reduces the construction and operational risks of having two reservoirs very close together.

The reservoirs need to be the same height so the full capacity of both reservoirs can be utilised. The two tanks need to be connected to each other, so decreasing the height of the new reservoir would impact how much of the existing reservoir can be used.

Our aim is to retain as many trees as possible. However, trees will need to be removed if they are where our infrastructure is planned to go, or if any significant roots are impacted by our work. There are also at least six trees that have health or structural issues which means they have to be removed regardless of our work.

We are working to minimise tree removal wherever possible. The Review of Environmental Factors (REF) that state the environmental impacts of our work allowed for 26 trees to be removed to make space for the new reservoir. We have since developed a new arborist report based on the latest iteration of our designs and reduced the amount of trees to be removed by adopting additional protection controls around the trees closest to our work site. Currently, 22 trees need to be removed to make way for the new infrastructure and we will continue to minimise tree removal wherever possible. We will also have the project arborist on hand while we work to ensure we protect trees when working nearby.   

We are working with landscape and vegetation specialists to determine the best possible landscape plan for the site. This includes considering using taller tree species that can safely grow on our property without impacting any underground or above-ground services. This may include Blueberry Ash, Grey myrtle, Lemon-scented Myrtle and species of Lily Pilly. We will confirm suitable locations with our arborists. We are also working with our landscapers to determine whether we can replant established trees.