Sydney Water Becoming a Utility of the Future

Like all  utilities, Sydney Water is faced with a number of current and emerging challenges that threaten its ability to continue delivering water at affordable prices.

Sydney Water ​is Australia’​s largest water ​utility and one of the ten ​largest ​water utilities ​in the world.. Therefore the challenges they face include population growth, concerns about the cost of living, greater customer expectations and climate change. 

To meet these challenges the utility aims to become more efficient in providing high-quality water and services to its customers.

As part of this efficiency drive, Sydney Water is proposing to lower its prices for customers over the 2016-2020 period, resulting in most households saving over $100 on their water and wastewater bills each year.

To increase efficiency and pass on the savings to customers, Sydney Water is working towards reducing its energy use by improving energy efficiency in its operations and generating renewable energy. The aim is to keep its non-renewable energy purchases at or below 1998 levels as well as cap its carbon emissions at a stable level.

Sydney Water’s energy efficiency program

To date the utility has saved almost 30 GWh of energy: the equivalent of saving electricity used by 4,100 homes a year. This has included:

• Using smarter mixing techniques at its wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)
• Minimizing power use by aerators at WWTPs
• Investing in energy efficient buildings. Both the utility’s Parramatta head office and Potts Hill buildings have a 5-star NABERS rating and a 5-star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia
• Replacing conventional lighting with LED technology at several sites, including WWTPs, saving around $130,000 a year

Sydney Water’s renewable energy program

Over the period 2013-2014, Sydney Water generated 16% of its energy needs from renewable sources: enough to power over 9,000 homes a year. This has been achieved by:

• Recovering energy from wastewater: Sydney Water turns waste methane gas (biogas) into electricity at its WWTPs and water recycling plants, as well as reusing waste heat in WWTP processes
• Generating hydroelectricity: Sydney Water produces hydroelectricity at its North Head Wastewater Treatment Plant. At this plant wastewater passes down a long drop shaft on its way to a deep ocean outfall with energy captured by a hydroelectric generator. The utility also produces hydroelectricity in its water supply pipelines at two dams 
• Capturing the sun’s rays: Sydney Water produces around 60 kW of solar power at their Potts Hill Office, enough to power most of the office lights. In addition, the utility has installed solar hot water systems in most of its buildings. Sydney Water will install a further 100 kW of solar power across a number of its sites
• Turning waste into energy: Sydney Water is exploring the use of trucked waste streams to increase the amount of energy generated at its WWTPs. The waste streams the utility is investigating include glycerol, commercial and household food waste, beverage and dairy waste, and fats, oils and grease.

Sydney Water becoming a utility of the future

Going forward, Sydney Water sees WWTPs as potential clean energy generators with the possibility that some of its WWTPs will generate more energy than they will use by:

• Becoming more energy efficient
• Maximizing energy capture from wastewater
• Adding new organic waste streams

In the meantime, Sydney Water will aim to increase its renewable energy mix and implement cost effective projects to reduce energy use and carbon emissions in its overall operations

The take-out

Water utilities can implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects to reduce operational costs and pass on the savings to customers.

*Robert C. Brears is the author of Urban Water Security (Wiley). Please follow on Facebook UrbanH20

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Taxonomy

• Mitigation
• Climate Change
• Water-Energy Nexus
• Renewable Energy Technologies
• Renewable Energy
• Renewable Energy Power
• Mitigation

2 Comments

1. . That would NOT increase the COST of wastewater treatment - propose to do the following: - change the principle of operation of wastewater treatment, and more precisely its cleaning technology. Because this technology is taken by analogy with the human body. IT only moved in the equipment and adapted for cleaning. In this process we very poorly manage. Therefore, it is necessary to change the technology, using physical methods by which a person can manage. Even better, if these processes will be six or eight, which will give the opportunity to clean ANY TYPES of wastewater to decontaminate it, leading up to a technical condition, suitable for irrigation, in conditions of growing population in the metropolis takes on a new meaning.

   - Stop drop conventionally treated wastewater into the sea. Technology allows you to bring the effluent up options suitable for irrigation

   - You get a TRIPLE benefit :

   - will be able to sell water for irrigation, reduce pollution of the coastal part of the sea,

   - increase productivity of agricultural crops ( by 20 - 25%),

   - REDUCE the COST of WASTEWATER treatment, will receive additional income for what YOU originally sought.

   Plus - YOU can SAVE on consumption of electric energy, because the equipment consumes FOUR times less electric energy.

   ( For biological technology, on average, think about 3 kW for cleaning of 1 m3. In our technology - 0.7 kW/m3. So consider the SAVINGS !!! 1 million population - wastewater 200 000 m3 200 000 x 3 kW = 600 000 kW. In our technology - 200 000 x 0.7 = 140 000 kW . 600 000 - 140 000 kW = 460 000 kW/ day !!! to 1 million population. You can calculate the month and year of consumption, I think these figures will make You think)

   The more it becomes interesting, when the occupied area under the equipment is REDUCED FIVE TIMES !!!

    

   The second thing to do is to reduce the cost of obtaining drinking water. Developed technology for producing drinking water from sea water or saline without the use of REVERSE OSMOSIS allows you to get fresh drinking water to 85% of the original. The cost of desalination on the ORDER of magnitude LOWER than traditional technology and is not more than 0.05 USD per 1 m3. The cost of electric power is 0.5 kW per 1 m3 of drinking water. That is NOT ACHIEVABLE by ANY TECHNOLOGY IN the WORLD !!! Selecting convenient option for YOU - YOU will not only reduce the cost of desalination, but also receive many additional bonuses, in the form of irrigation, saving electric power, reducing space, improving the ecology, extra food. If You have any questions I will be glad to answer You. With respect to You. Sergei Tyumentsev. tumentsev@inbox.ru

2. Very interesting and cutting edge measures by Sydney water to make their utility more effective and efficient. Thanks for sharing this useful information.

   1 Comment reply

   1. Don't know what methods are in Sydney - would love to see, if invited, but our method 

      (not biology) are already used by many Customers. 

      They appreciated the advantages of this technology in terms of energy saving ( up to four times)

       and in automation ( one attendant - he's a technician)

       and in terms of the lack of active sludge, 

      and - maximizing profit !!!

       We invite you to be sure in the efficiency of the technology, equipment and chat with Customers - it's the most strict critics.  

      e-mail  - tumentsev@inbox.ru