Richmond System Wastewater Upgrade

Christmas is rapidly approaching and we would like to thank the Richmond community for their patience during our project work in 2024.

Our latest newsletter is available here for you to find the latest news and updates on the project as we continue to upgrade the wastewater system in Richmond and North Richmond.

2025 will be a busy year and we look forward to meeting you as our work progresses.

Our project sites in Richmond and North Richmond will be closed from Thursday 19 December 2024 and we will return to work on Monday 6 January 2025.

If you have an enquiry about the Richmond System Wastewater Upgrade Project, please contact our team on 1800 010 086.

For urgent enquiries about Sydney Water services during this period please call our faults hotline on 13 20 90.

Wishing you peace and joy this holiday season and in the New Year.

Sydney Water and its delivery construction partner BMD are upgrading the Richmond Wastewater System to meet the needs of the growing population of Richmond and its surrounds. Construction of a new wastewater pipeline will start in North Richmond from Wednesday 14 August 2024. The pipeline construction will be delivered in stages with an expected completion date in late 2025.

What's happening?

We are upgrading wastewater pipelines and installing a new pipeline. Our work includes:

• New wastewater pipelines - construction of a new wastewater pipeline.
• Upgrading wastewater pipelines - upgrading emergency relief structures (ERS) – which are used to help prevent wastewater overflows from being released through maintenance holes or private plumbing
• Sewer gravity mains – upgrading the existing network to meet the community needs.

Vegetation clearing

As the project starts to prepare for construction of the new pipeline there is some initial vegetation removal, tree pruning and weed management that is required. All vegetation clearing and pruning will be completed by qualified arborists under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Transport and Infrastructure) 2021. All removed vegetation will be replanted in line with Sydney Water’s biodiversity guidelines in consultation with Hawkesbury City Council and the wider community. The heritage tree outside the North Richmond Community Centre will be retained.

Restoration works

Once our work is finished, all sites will be reestablished and impacted areas will be restored.

We thank you for your patience during our construction work.

It’s been an exciting month at the Richmond Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) as concrete pouring has started to form a new bioreactor structure. The structure will hold wastewater where it is cleaned then further treated and purified ready to be reused as irrigation water.

The concrete pour was the first of twenty-nine that are needed, equalling a massive 2500 m3 of concrete and 600 tonnes of reinforcing. The structure will receive additional flow from a new 6.9 km long transfer pipeline from the North Richmond wastewater treatment system to the Richmond Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF), an upgrade that will allow the Richmond Facility to receive, treat and reuse additional flows of wastewater as recycled water.

The upgrade will provide improved wastewater services for the projected population growth in Richmond and North Richmond area in the next 30 years.

The Richmond System Wastewater upgrade team have begun draining a decommissioned water reservoir at the Richmond Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Working with the neighbouring Richmond Golf Course, the team have successfully rehomed 25 eastern long-necked turtles into the freshwater dams around the Golf Course.

In 2020, the University of Western Sydney's Hawkesbury’s campus began a study into the effects of not having turtles in rivers on their eco-systems.

"The research we are conducting at the Experimental Wetland Facility on the University's Hawkesbury campus shows that without turtles in our rivers, water quality would reach toxic levels during our hot summers," Mr Spencer said.

Sydney Water and our project delivery partner BMD came together last week to participate in a traditional smoking ceremony to help mark the start of construction for the Richmond System Wastewater Upgrade works.

The rain passed just in time for a Welcome to Country by Melissa Stubbings, Senior Dharug Woman. The Smoking Ceremony was performed by by Uncle Glenn Collis, Barkinji man and Community Elder. It is traditionally held to acknowledge the ancestors and pay respect to the land and waters of country. It welcomes, cleanses and promotes the protection and wellbeing of visitors.

Uncle Glenn, with the help of some eager participants, also led us all in a dreamtime story about how the earth was created.

Sydney Water’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) reflects our commitment to integrate the reconciliation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples into our business. The smoking ceremony signals our recognition that we operate on the lands of Traditional Custodians. Our purpose to protecting waterways and the environment is consistent with the environmental stewardship the traditional owners have provided for thousands of years.

It was fantastic to be joined by so many attendees from our delivery partner, subcontractors, as well as Sydney Water staff.

Sydney Water and its delivery partner BMD will be carrying out site investigations in different locations in the Richmond and North Richmond areas to better understand ground conditions and to inform the design of the assets, leading to construction.

We plan to start investigation works on Tuesday 20 June 2023 and expect to finish by late July 2023, weather permitting.

Our work hours will be from 7 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday and from 8 am to 1 pm on Saturday. No work is planned for Sundays or public holidays.

We know our work can be disruptive, so we’ll make every effort to reduce any impact this work may have on you. You may experience:

• Noise: During work hours moderate noise levels may be emitted due to construction machinery. No heavy noise activities are planned.
• Parking: Some parking may be disrupted due to construction vehicles and work zones. If we cannot access a work area, it can cause delays and prolong the work.
• Traffic: Our machinery and trucks may take space up on the street. Traffic controllers will help traffic flow while keeping you and our team safe. Allowances will be made for emergency vehicle access during this time.

Private property access

We will make sure that residents continue to have access to all driveways and private properties during this time.

If we need access to inspect a Sydney Water asset located within your property, we will notify you separately to arrange access.

If you would like to know more, please contact our community engagement team on richmondswu@sydneywater.com.au.

We are pleased to announce that we have partnered with BMD Constructions to deliver the Richmond System Wastewater Upgrade Project. Together we will upgrade the wastewater infrastructure to meet the needs of Richmond’s growing population, meet current regulatory requirements and provide sufficient flexibility to meet more stringent regulatory requirements in the future. Detailed construction design will commence in June 2023 with community consultation as its cornerstone. During this stage, the delivery contractor will be looking to optimise the project's design with a view to further reducing impact to the community and environment.

Construction of this project is expected to commence in September 2023 and will take 2 years to complete.

We're planning to improving the wastewater system in North Richmond and Richmond. This work will ensure the reliability and resilience of our services and meet the demands of a growing community in the Hawkesbury.

We have prepared a Review of Environmental Factors (REF), guided by the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. The REF looks at all the potential benefits and environmental impacts of the project as we build it and once it's up and running. The REF needs to cover all scenarios, even though there will be opportunities to improve or even eliminate some of these impacts as we continue to fine-tune this project. It includes:

• the background to this project,
• proposed construction activities, including work locations, and
• potential environmental impacts, including traffic and access.

You can view and download the REF from the Document Library.