City of Sydney's plans for decentralised water

The City of Sydney is re-thinking water in our city. Decentralised water is about improving water efficiency, sourcing water locally and improving the quality of our waterways. Learn more http://ow.ly/m1dhc

We're creating a style of more sustainable Sydney.
(smarter - more sustainable Sydney)

Water is one of our most valuable resources.
(less than 2% of drinking water is used for drinking)

But we use drinking-quality water

for things that don't really need it
(20% of our drinking water is used to flush toilets)

while stormwater and water from our showers

washing machines and basins

goes down the drain, wasted.
(we have around 26 bilion litres of stormwater run off every year)

That's why we're planning

a decentralised water system
(decentralised water)

This includes a local, recycled water system

alongside our current water network.

This local water will be treated and then distributed

using a separate purple pipe.
(separate purple pipe)

It'll be used for non-drinking purposes only

like water in gardens and parks

and flushing loos

By using treated and filtered recycled water

we could help supply the city of Sydney's

non-drinking water needs
(Over 50% of our non-drinking water)

leaving our drinking water

for drinking.

In 2010, Austin, Texas
(Texas)

saved more than seven billion litres of water
(seven billion litres of water)

through the use of reclaimed water.

And Singapore has one of the largest
(Singapore)

water recycling plants in the world.
(one of the largest water recycling plants in the world)

where it is actually a tourist attraction.

Recycling water will help us preserve our precious drinking water

and by introducing innovations like rain gardens,

in our parks and streets,

we'll also reduce the pollution
(rain gardens slow down and filter water)

going into our water ways,

adding to the water saving actions

we're already doing,

creating a sustainable Sydney 2030
(City of Sydney 2030 - Clover More)

a green, global and connected city
(Clover More, Mayor of Sydney).