Sustainable Development Goals

We are firmly committed to playing our part in the realisation of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and we’re proud to be part of an industry that has made a strong collaborative commitment to progress all 17 goals.

We have signed the Water Services Association of Australia’s urban water commitment to promote the SDGs across the industry and within our communities to build a more sustainable and prosperous future. We are especially well-placed to deliver on Goal 6 in ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, and we have commenced work across all 17 goals.

Thinking globally, acting locally

Hunter Water is firmly committed to playing its part in the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals and is proud to be part of an industry that has made a strong collaborative commitment to progress all 17 objectives.

The SDGs offer a new way of thinking that challenges the traditional ‘business as usual’ approach and with increasing adoption across the nation and globe, will result in better alignment with emerging government policy. They also provide a common framework for engagement with stakeholders across our region and beyond.

Smart technology to reduce water consumption

In 2018-19, we trialled an intelligent control system called Smart Integrated Pump Scheduling (SIPS) to schedule our water pump operations, with the aim of reducing electricity usage and optimising network performance and costs. SIPS monitors and analyses water demand in real-time and learns the behaviour of the network. It then plans how assets need to operate to meet network constraints at the lowest cost.

Reducing our landfill

A total of 37,996 tonnes of solid waste was generated during FY24 (excluding biosolids). Of this, 60% was recycled or recovered, a slight decrease from 63% in FY23.

The decrease in recycling rates can be attributed to several factors including a noted increase in unrecyclable soil and fill from capital projects and operational activities due to contamination. The operational spoil recycling rate dropped to 63% for FY24, with contamination such as asbestos being detected during stockpile testing resulting in landfill disposal.

Civil maintenance continued to test for and produce spoil for use as engineering backfill as part of resource recovery practices implemented in FY23. Over 500 tonnes of spoil was diverted for reuse as engineering backfill on Hunter Water sites in FY24. Further resource recovery opportunities are currently being explored.

Further work will occur in FY25 to improve waste management practices across the business. We will work closely with our total waste management provider and project contractors to ensure opportunities to divert waste from landfill are identified. We will also be conducting regular waste management audits, improving waste data accuracy and traceability and rolling out education programs for our staff and contractors.

Our first residential recycled water scheme

More than 1,100 homes in Chisholm and Gillieston Heights are connected to purple pipes that will carry recycled water as part of Hunter Water’s first residential recycled water scheme. It is estimated that each household will use 40% less drinking water, by instead using high quality treated wastewater for a range of non-drinking purposes such as flushing toilets, machine washing clothes and watering the garden.