FAQs

All construction will take place within the existing North Head facility. You won’t be able to see, smell or hear our work, but you may notice more trucks transporting equipment, people and materials at different stages of construction.

The North Head facility operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our construction work hours for this project are 7 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday and 8 am to 1 pm on Saturdays. We won’t do construction work on Sundays or public holidays. 

Our standard approved hours for the Biosolids project are 7 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday and 8 am to 1 pm Saturdays, and most of our work will be done during those times. 

Deliveries will generally be scheduled within our work hours but there will be certain activities that require heavy equipment and oversized vehicles to travel to and from site outside our work hours, in line with Transport for NSW requirements (i.e. if they need to be off the road by a certain time). This won’t happen every day and will be spread out over the entire construction period, mainly as we build the two new digesters. We will also install a tower crane onsite to minimise the frequency of mobile cranes coming to and from the site. 

We’re committed to being a good neighbour and reducing noise and vehicle movements for the community. We’ll let directly-impacted residents know in advance when we bring oversized vehicles or equipment to site outside our work hours.  

Since the North Head facility operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there are already Sydney Water  vehicles travelling to and from site as part of our operation and maintenance activities. We don’t expect the Biosolids project to create a significant increase in traffic on local roads during construction.  

In 2019 we refined concept designs and started detailed planning to determine project scope, timing and budgets. Detailed plans identified that the project budget exceeded anticipated funding and we decided to split the project into two parts primarily for funding purposes and to manage the scope, timing and deliverables better. 

By delivering this project in two phases, it helps us better plan with and around other projects and upgrades at the North Head facility, safely coordinate crew movement, and minimise cumulative impacts to the local Manly community. 

We produce organic solids (sludge) as a by-product of the wastewater treatment process. This sludge is collected and processed to convert it into a safe, stable, nutrient rich fertiliser product called biosolids. Each year, Sydney Water produces around 180,000 tonnes of biosolids from our water resource recovery facilities. That’s over 9,000 full bus loads! Find out more about how we make and recycle biosolids here.

Producing biosolids helps us reduce our environmental footprint and contribute to a circular economy by:

• minimising the discharge of solids to our oceans and rivers
• recycling a valuable resource that helps minimise disposal to landfill
• reducing the amount of chemical fertilisers used on farms
• producing biogas used to generate renewable energy to power our treatment facilities.

The circular economy concept involves reusing, repairing, and recycling materials, designing out waste and pollution, and keeping products in use as long as possible. A circular economy moves us away from single use materials and unsustainable forms of consumption.

We aim to create a better life with world-class water services, and are champions for the environment, public health and resilience. We create value for our customers and communities by embracing circular economy practices with the use of water, energy and materials to restore and regenerate the natural environment.  

We’ll do this by:

• recovering and re-using resources wisely and reducing waste to landfill
• exploring innovative waste management strategies 
• harnessing research and innovation to increase our use of renewable energy.