Dead in the water

Why the distinction between “water consumption” and “drinking water”? Careless usage or carefully crafted language?

The Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament 2009 Volume Seven says “... the power need of the desalination plant will be offset by renewable energy at a wind farm, as opposed to it being operated by renewable energy. The wind farm is located between Bungendore and Tarago and Renewable Power Ventures (a subsidiary of Infigen Energy) has built and will operate the wind farm. The wind farm, known as the Capital Wind Farm, has a capacity of 140 megawatts ...”

What provisions are there to ensure supply to customers if power outages occur? Are there provisions guaranteeing Veolia’s revenue if there is a power outage? Who pays for that? Sydney Water?

The Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament 2009 Volume Seven states that the NSW government has not decided on the operating rules for the plant. Contractually it will operate at full capacity for the first two years as part of the plant commissioning process.

Has the government now determined the operating rules? Have they been made publicly available? If so, where can we find them? If not, why not?

The Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament 2007 Volume Four (PDF 156KB) says Sydney Water will need price increases to fund its future cost of debt. It also notes the significant gap between Sydney Water’s “replacement” asset values and their value based on cash generating capability.

Are you prepared to guarantee that the Sydney Desalination Plant will only add an extra $2 a week to the average water bill?

Irrespective of the state of Sydney Water’s accounts, does the government remain committed to repairing pipes and protecting groundwater even if in the short term it might be more expensive than recycling surface water by sanitisation and desalination?

Will the government guarantee that it will not issue a ministerial direction to sell the Sydney Desalination Plant in the open market?

Sydney Water says the desalination plant will run non-stop for two years and afterwards will only be switched on if dam levels fall below 70 per cent.

On what basis has it been determined that 70 per cent represents a critical dam level?

How much do we pay Veolia if the plant just sits there?

If water from the desalination plant is piped to Erskineville and mixed with water from other sources, how will the NSW government or State Water verify the quantity of water produced by the desalination plant?

Wastewater

People don't yet appreciate the likelihood that recycled water may soon be a necessary source of drinking water, and that the ownership of recycled water supplies and the infrastructure that creates it or which it passes through will then be a very valuable asset. While the government may say it is not really privatising water, but rather delegating the management of utilities or operating them in partnership, the fundamental and very real issue is access to water. The key to access is control, and who ultimately controls the tap?

The Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament 2009 Volume 7 refers “... to an initiative to increase the use of recycled water to replace potable water use where appropriate. In Sydney, the total amount of recycled water supplied in 2008-09 was about 27.2 billion litres and additional projects are planned to increase the use of recycled water to over 60 billion litres per year by 2015 ...”

You will be aware that the Water Industry Competition Act 2006 provides that a licensed network operator is the owner of its water industry infrastructure, whether or not the land in, on or over which it is situated is owned by the network operator, and that infrastructure is not to be taken in execution of any judgment against a person other than the network operator under any process of a court.