Orchard Hills Water Filtration Plant Reliability Upgrade

Sydney Water plans to upgrade our existing Orchard Hills Water Filtration Plant (WFP) to improve its reliability and resilience and ensure it continues to provide safe and reliable drinking water to meet the needs of Western Sydney’s growing population.

Orchard Hills WFP was built in 1993 and supplies drinking water, sourced from Warragamba Dam to about 260,000 customers in the Penrith and Blue Mountains local government areas.

The quality of water in Warragamba Dam can be impacted after large storm events, where there is increased run-off into the dam, heavy rainfall following bushfire events or extended drought periods. During these periods, it impacts the capability of the Orchard Hills WFP to supply drinking water that meets the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

To ensure we continue to supply drinking water to meet customer demands, we are planning to build a new facility at Orchard Hills WFP, that will include:

• a screening chamber to remove debris, leaves and twigs
• a pre-treatment plant that will pre-treat the raw water before the pre-treated water is passed through the existing filtration process and filters
• upgrade of existing chemical storage and handling facilities
• removal of disused buildings and concrete structures
• site works, including pipework, roadway, and power supply upgrade.

This upgrade will improve the reliability and resilience of Orchard Hills WFP and the drinking water to ensure it meets the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines due to changing water quality in Warragamba Dam.

If you would like more information about the existing plant filtration process visit Orchard Hills Water Filtration Plant.