Sydney water restrictions: The Gables switches on drought-resistant water recycling plant
As the rest of Sydney is facing some of the toughest water restrictions of the decade, one Sydney suburb is set to be a green oasis with a water recycling plant being switched on.
Hills Shire
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Residents in an up-and-coming community in The Hills won’t suffer from the same extreme water restrictions as millions of others across Sydney when they come into effect today.
The Gables residential development at Box Hill has flicked the switch on a private water recycling plant — making thousands of new homes self sufficient — and allowing residents to continue to water their gardens, clean their cars and homes without the fear of hefty fines.
Cestino chief executive, John Vassallo, said the $16 million facility, which was switched on just in time for intense water restrictions, will provide one megalitre of water each day.
“I grew up in Western Sydney and understand how dry it can be when water restrictions are put in place,” Mr Vassallo said. “Everyone is house proud, so we wanted to make sure that we used our water to the best of its ability — while being sustainable at the same time.”
About 500 homes have already been connected to the new water-saving facility with two more to be built to service a total of 4300 homes and 12,000 residents in the future.
Mr Vasallo said the recycling plant reduces each household’s reliance on Warragamba Dam by 70 per cent.
“We wanted to prevent waste water from literally being sent down the creek,” he said. “so we installed our own recycled water system — which is a first for a greenfield development in Sydney.”
The Gables resident, Ryan Allen, said the new facility allows he and his neighbours to have “guilt-free garden maintenance”.
“Having the potable Sydney water, plus the recycled means we have the option to do more than many other communities across Sydney,” Mr Allen told The Daily Telegraph.
“We use these services every single day.”
Mr Allen and his family moved into The Gables six months ago, while he is also managing landscape work throughout the estate.
“We are house proud so we have been able to keep the garden great during the drought and the grass green,” he said. We do a lot of work in the estate and this facility gives new residents confidence to install irrigation systems.”
Level two water restriction apply to all homes and businesses across Sydney, The Blue Mountains and the Illawarra from today.
Restrictions came into place after water storage across Greater Sydney dropped to 45 per cent.