In FY 2024-25 the Sydney Desalination Plant at Kurnell produced 21,412 ML of the 556,551 ML of drinking water Sydney Water produced, a share of 3.8%. Two years earlier the plant supplied 67,996 of 527,529 ML, or 12.9%. Sydney Water describes its supply as about 85% rainfall-dependent and 15% desalination.
A plant Sydney Water does not own
The plant is privately owned by Utilities Trust of Australia, a fund managed by Morrison. Sydney Water says it is always operating and that it feeds the Potts Hill delivery system, which serves about 1.5 million people. Sydney Water's Modern Slavery Statement 2025 names the plant as its biggest single spend. Sydney Water states that running it for the 12 months to March 2025 cost the average household A$22.04 a year. Its 2022-23 annual report linked part of a A$112 million rise in operating expenditure to sourcing more water from the plant.
The dams belong to someone else too
About 80% of the water Sydney Water supplies comes from Lake Burragorang behind Warragamba Dam. The dams supplying Greater Sydney are managed by WaterNSW, which runs 11 major dams and reservoirs. Sydney Water's own 18 declared dams are mostly reservoirs and flood or retarding basins.
What Sydney Water controls
The supply Sydney Water controls is recycled water, and it fell from 41,198 ML in FY 2022-23 to 34,525 ML in FY 2024-25. Its FY 2025-26 target is 46 GL. Purified recycled water could provide up to 25% of Greater Sydney's needs by 2056, but the Quakers Hill to Prospect scheme is still under investigation.
The report explains how prices, licenses and storage are divided among Sydney Water, WaterNSW and the regulators, and what the 2026-27 drought pricing trigger at 60% dam levels means. It also covers how the A$32 billion 10-year plan addresses supply and wastewater capacity. The full report, Water Systems Overview: Sydney Water, is available for USD 499 at https://ourfuturewaterintelligence.com/reports/water-systems-overview-sydney-water. For a free overview, read the Sydney Water Utility Snapshot at https://ourfuturewaterintelligence.com/utilities/sydney-water.