Water FAQs

Every day, we supply about 1.5 billion litres of drinking water to over 5.3 million people in their homes and businesses. About 80% comes from Warragamba Dam. The rest comes from a mix of other dams, the Hawkesbury–Nepean River and Sydney Desalination Plant at Kurnell.

The Illawarra Water Delivery System supplies water to about 300,000 people in Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama LGAs.

Water sources

• Main source: Avon River

• When required: Nepean River and the Shoalhaven River System

Main water storage

• Avon Dam

Water filtration

• Illawarra Water Filtration Plant

Illawarra water delivery system

 

From our water filtration plants, we send your water to secure covered reservoirs in your area. Our pipes connect the reservoirs to the taps in your home. We monitor them for leaks and breaks but we also rely on you to help let us know if there are any problems. Sometimes we then need to upgrade or replace sections of our water mains, to make sure water is not wasted.

We’re replacing and renewing existing water mains. This is not just about pipes. It’s about water – clean, life sustaining water. Our work will ensure we can continue to give you clean and reliable water every day.

If we need to upgrade or replace a section of the existing water main in your street, we'll let you know by putting a notification in your letterbox.

The work generally involves:

1. Upgrading or replacing the water main
   • we’ll first set up a temporary work site which may include a skip bin, storage container, materials and a toilet
   • we’ll be digging in your street to replace or lay the new pipe
   • our work can get noisy and dusty, and parking will be limited in your street while we're working there
2. Testing the upgraded or replaced water main
   • after we've upgraded or replaced the water main, we need to test it, which is done remotely
   • we'll temporarily restore and clean up our work site during this time, but we'll leave some things like skip bins and protective equipment for when we return to connect the pipe
3. Connecting the upgraded or replaced water main, and your property, back into our network
   • we’ll need to turn off your water supply when we do this
   • you’ll receive a notification in your letterbox with further details about when this will happen
   • when you’re connected, we’ll remove the temporary work site and restore the areas we impacted.

• your home may need to be connected to a temporary water supply so that you have water while we’re working
• this will be an above ground pipe connected to your garden tap or water meter
• when installing and removing this temporary supply, we’ll turn the water off for up to one hour but we’ll knock on your door first before this happens
• when we connect the upgraded or replaced water main back into our live network, we'll turn the water off for up to five hours and affected residents will receive a separate notification from Sydney Water before this happens
• replacing the water main can take up to six months or more and our crews may work intermittently during this time
• if you need to make special arrangements with us, please reach out so we can work with you.

If you notice a leak on your property, you need to call a licensed plumber to fix it.

If you notice a leak in the street or in a public area, please help us and immediately call 13 20 90 (24 hours) so we can fix it.