Urban Water
Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program
The NSW Government's Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program (CTWSS) is managed by the Department of Water and Energy (DWE). It is a major government reform program that provides management, technical and financial support to local water utilities (LWUs) in the provision of water supply and sewerage services to country towns in NSW.
CTWSS provides:
Management assistance through the Best-Practice Management of Water Supply and Sewerage Guidelines.
Technical assistance through:
- Regular inspections and advice on water and sewage treatment works operational problems
- Conducting water supply and sewerage operator training seminars/ courses
- Pre commissioning inspections of Fluoridation Plants and technical assistance to NSW Health to enable councils to comply with requirements under the Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies Act 1957 and in certification of fluoridation officers.
- Ongoing LWUs dam safety inspections and mentoring/ training of operators
- Ongoing LWUs liquid trade waste discharge approvals
- Conducting regional trade waste regulation courses
- Providing help desk services.
Financial assistance through grants to local water utilities towards the capital cost of works to address the backlog in water supply and sewerage infrastructure.
The program commenced in July 1994. Backlog relates to infrastructure necessary to meet the demand, loads, service standards and regulator requirements that existed at 1996. The later date for the application of backlog enabled a smooth transition from the old program to the current program. Each utility is responsible for the operation and maintenance costs and capital costs to meet growth, asset replacement and changes in standards or requirements post 1996.
The benefits and outcomes of this program are that water supply and sewerage services in urban areas of regional NSW are appropriate, affordable, cost-effective and well managed, meet community needs, protect public health and achieve sustainable environmental outcomes.
The Government's total commitment to this program now exceeds $1.1 billion and the program is scheduled to run until 2016-17. The program has now expended over $758 million and completed over 350 water supply and sewerage projects which have delivered enhanced public health, improved environmental outcomes and security of supply to more than one million people living in the country towns where those projects were delivered.