On This Page

Welcome
Working in partnership with our community
Responding to urgent issues reported by our customers
Responding to non-urgent issues reported by our customers
Number of properties affected by unplanned water interruptions
Average duration of unplanned interruptions to water supply
Water quality complaints
Number of water pressure complaints
Water main breaks
Water sampling results
Water extracted from our storages
Water produced for the Central Coast Community
Number of days that beaches/lagoons aren’t swimmable (due to breaks or discharges)
Volume of biosolids reused
Number of Environmental Protection Licence (EPL) non-compliances
Sewage overflows
Volume of sewage overflows, as reported to the regulator
Number of sewage overflows reported to the environmental regulator
Sewer main breaks and chokes

Welcome to Central Coast Council’s Water and Sewer Quarterly Reporting page

This Water and Sewer Quarterly Report details the performance of water and sewer services from April to June 2024. For this report, this will be referred to as ‘the reporting period’. Results are collected monthly and are published four times a year.

A Water and Sewer Annual Performance Report that includes current year as well as four years of historical results, will be available on our website by the end of 2024. This report will enable our customers to monitor trends in our overall performance.

Working in partnership with our community

This Water and Sewer Quarterly Report outlines the primary areas of interest in water and sewer performance, as identified by our community. Addressing these areas is a key focus for Council, noting that it may take time before benefits and desired results are achieved.

Since the collection of this data, our customers have provided feedback on their experiences when contacting us over the phone regarding water and sewer issues. Customers have also shared what is important to them about their services and preferred focus for Council’s water and sewer business. We will use this data to review future performance of our water and sewer business and customer experience. Learn more about our water and sewer community engagement program.

Note: Actual monthly data may be subject to change in future reports if data corrections need to be conducted after the published date. This promotes better analysis and accuracy of the reported data.
 

Responding to urgent issues reported by our customers

Council’s response to urgent issues reported by customers has remained relatively consistent over the reporting period. Factors that have impacted the response times this quarter include wet weather events and staff resourcing.

The information gathered during our community engagement activities will assist in the review of customer response times moving forward.

Responding to non-urgent issues reported by our customers

Council prioritises urgent issues. Non-urgent issues are assessed based on several factors including the details of the issue, staff availability, required work and weather.

We aim to respond to non-urgent issue within five days. Reporting indicates that our response to non-urgent issues reported by our customers within five days has varied over the reporting period. April and May saw wet weather events which impacted the resourcing for responses.

Across the reporting period, staff resources have periodically been allocated to cover priorities around the Mardi Water Treatment Plant upgrade project. Additionally, reduced staffing levels occurred across the Easter/school holiday period which also affected response times.

The information gathered during our community engagement activities will assist with review of response times moving forward. 

Number of properties affected by unplanned water interruptions

The types of unplanned water interruptions range from main breaks to hydrant leaks or breaks. 

Overall, for this reporting period, the number of properties affected by unplanned water interruptions has increased. This can be due to changes in season (colder weather) and wet weather events, which saturate the ground, causing ground movement and breakages in the pipes.  The water main renewal program has been increased to reduce water main break related interruptions and reduce the number of affected properties. This will be monitored over the coming months.

As part of the longer-term continuous improvement program, an additional water service replacement initiative to complement the water main renewals will be introduced in 2024/2025. We expect the benefits of these changes to be seen over the longer term. 

Average duration of unplanned interruptions to water supply

In general, the average duration of unplanned interruptions shows some variations over the reporting period, noting that the duration of water outages is affected by the type of water supply issue. Larger water main breaks, for example, can take longer to fix. When looking at the performance for response times to urgent and non-urgent work, there is a correlation between the results. 

We continue to work on programs to reduce the occurrence of unplanned interruptions.  This is primarily through changing our operational planning practices to reduce the unplanned element within our water network maintenance teams, along with alternative works methods and increasing customer engagement prior to these works. Leak detection programs have been reviewed and expansion of these programs will proactively reduce to assist this metric over time. 

Longer term, we are expanding the water main replacement program to reduce the number of water main breaks. 

Water quality complaints

Water quality complaints reduced in April and were consistent across the remainder of the reporting period. At the end of April into early May, new assets were commissioned between Hunter Water Corporation and Council, which resulted in short-term system disturbances. 

Discoloured water continues to be the main challenge. Council has increased the water mains flushing program and main dead-end removal program in 2023/2024 and have included these again in 2024/2025 main renewal program.

Overall, the number of water quality complaints have continued to improve over the past 12 months with some short-term fluctuations.

Number of water pressure complaints

Currently, the Central Coast region has 168,000 connections to our water supply. When comparing the number of complaints to the number of connections, less than one percent of connections have experienced water pressure issues.

Council continues to monitor complaints and track these monthly to ensure any issues are addressed quickly. 

Council has begun the pressure booster trial at Kariong to address a known low-pressure area.

Water main breaks

Breaks in water main pipelines occur due to ground movement, aging infrastructure, weather events, temperature changes and third-party damage

The number of water main pipeline breaks fluctuated over the reporting period with wet weather throughout April and June. Entering the winter months, it was anticipated with more ground movement there would be a seasonal increase in water main breaks.

Over April and later in June, the method of water movement around the network was changed to enable the Mardi Water Treatment Plant upgrade. This could have adjusted pressures and resulted in adverse effects. 

We are working to better capture third-party damage to underground assets which contribute to the overall number of breaks and will also increase the leak detection program. Longer term, Council is expanding the water main replacement and water service replacement programs and increasing surveillance on critical water mains associated with the Mardi Water Treatment Plant upgrade.

Water sampling results

Over the reporting period, all water sampling results were compliant.

Drinking water quality testing is undertaken by the NSW Health Forensic & Analytical Science Service laboratories. Water samples are collected from sites across the region by Council. These sites are representative of drinking water supplied to our customers. The table below summarises the number of individual tests undertaken for the microbiology and chemistry water quality programs, along with details of any test results not compliant with Australian Drinking Water health-based guideline limits for the April to June 2024 quarter.

Council has strong water quality parameters and critical control points in our treatment process to ensure we meet the needs of the community and deliver quality drinking water under the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG).
 

Water extracted from our storages

Central Coast Council and Hunter Water Corporation share water supply through the Central Coast / Hunter Water transfer to leverage on each region’s water supply during drought and operational outages.

The amount of water extracted from our storages is dependent on customers’ demand for water, the transfers between Hunter Water, our long-term storages of water and raw water processing.

Water extracted from our dams over the reporting period was consistent, with a dip in water extracted in May and June.

The downward trend of water extraction is consistent with entering the winter months, as the demand for water in our community usually peaks during the warmer months in spring/summer. Additionally, less water was extracted due to wet weather.

Water produced for the Central Coast Community

The Central Coast water supply has a shared connection to Hunter Water Corporation’s water supply through the Central Coast / Hunter Water transfer. The water produced by Council is dependent on the demands of our communities.

Demand for water in our community usually peaks during the spring/summer months. Over this reporting period, we have produced water in a downward trend which is consistent with going into the cooler months of the year where community demand is reduced.

Longer-term, Council’s Water Security Plan looks at our community needs along with the source of our water supply. This will ensure that the Central Coast has a sustainable water supply.

Number of days that beaches/lagoons aren’t swimmable (due to breaks or discharges)

Over the reporting period, each month had several days that beaches/lagoons were deemed non-swimmable. During this time, most non-swimmable days were caused by wet weather events.

In June, a minor sewage discharge event occurred in the Ettalong Creek catchment. Extended monitoring undertaken over the period demonstrated that water quality was not impacted by this event but more likely through the storm event.

Council monitors our beaches and lagoons through the NSW Beachwatch Program

Over the reporting period, each month had several days that beaches/lagoons were deemed non-swimmable. During this time, most non-swimmable days were caused by wet weather events. 

Volume of biosolids reused

Biosolids are mainly a mix of water and organic materials that are a by-product of the sewage treatment process. Most wastewater comes from household kitchens, laundries and bathrooms. 

The volume shown represents all biosolids entering Buttonderry Waste Management Facility and biosolids from Woy Woy and Kincumber Sewage Treatment Plants which are applied to land. Some of these biosolids are delivered to a network of farms for land application, carried out under strict biosolids guidelines. The other portion is composted to produce stable composts and soil conditioners.

Learn how to keep our sewerage network flowing and reduce biosolids.

Number of Environmental Protection Licence (EPL) non-compliances

During the reporting period, eleven instances of daily total flow volume non-compliances with Council’s Environmental Protection Licences (EPLs) occurred and five instances where the acceptable presence of chemicals in the effluent have been above the allowable limits at ocean outfalls. Our Sewage Treatment Plants operate using a variety of biological processes and equipment to achieve a high-quality effluent that is released to the ocean via one of our three ocean outfalls. 

The non-compliances and high load limits during the period are related to:

1. The eleven instances of discharges to our outfalls being above the total daily limit was due to the recent rainfall events, which increases the inflow volumes being received at our Sewage Treatment Plants.
    

2. The recent high rainfall events have also impacted on Council’s ability to actively treat the increased volumes of sewer flows coming into the plants.
    
3. Process equipment failures are continuing to impact on the quality of final effluent being discharged to our outfalls. Actions are being undertaken to address key process equipment breakdowns, with replacements and equipment maintenance continuing to be a priority focus. 
    
4. Both maintenance and capital improvements are being undertaken to enhance the operations of a sewage treatment plant that is continuing to operate above design capacity.

Council is continuing to progress planned sewage treatment plant upgrades and improve the replacement and maintenance activities of process equipment to address the non-compliances which will help improve our effluent discharge quality. Significant improvements in effluent discharge quality will not be realised until the completion of major planned plant upgrades and beyond. The upgrades are scheduled for completion in 2027.

Sewage overflows

The number of sewage overflows reported are the combination of overflows from a range of sewerage network assets, including vacuum pot overflows, access hole overflows (caused by chokes), or pump station overflows which can occur in both dry and wet weather events.

Results in this reporting period change monthly. Wet weather events (storms and flooding) increased the overflows especially in April (significant volumes of rainfall) and May. Aging infrastructure across areas of the Central Coast combined with legacy asset materials and construction techniques (for example vitreous clay pipes) will continue to impact results sporadically. Tree roots continue to be a problem in pipelines with sixty-seven percent of overflows this quarter attributed to tree roots impacting the sewage network. 

Council is continuing to focus on increasing tree root removal, together with other programs designed to target a reduction in overflows across the entire network. This includes sewer main renewals and relining of larger sewer pressure pipeline and sewer maintenance access hole resealing programs.

Council is nearing the completion of the refurbishment of many of the vacuum pot systems throughout Tacoma, Davistown and St Hubert’s Island through our capital works programs. 

Volume of sewage overflows, as reported to the regulator

Weather events in April and June resulted in failures within the sewage pipeline network. Investigation into the events indicate two major events in April and minor discharge volumes in June. Over the quarter, total volumes cannot be quantified due to stormwater and sewage discharge from multiple locations during the April storm events and hydraulic capacities being exceeded over these events. 

Council continues to implement various programs to target a reduction in overflows across the entire sewage pipeline network. Some of these are aimed at finding issues quickly while others focus on long-term change. These include leak detection programs, sewer main renewals and relining, large sewer pressure pipeline renewals and sewer maintenance access hole resealing programs.

Number of sewage overflows reported to the environmental regulator

Council is required to report back to one of our regulators (the New South Wales Environmental Protection Authority - EPA) on sewage overflow events. Events reported are primarily those that enter waterways either directly through sewage overflows or indirectly with sewage entering a stormwater system.

For this reporting period, the number of wastewater overflows reported to EPA were influenced by storm activity, with four of the eleven events due to stormwater infiltration. The remaining number for the quarter were driven by breaks, chokes and overflows in the network.

Council is implementing a program aimed at further reducing overflows across the sewage network.
 

Sewer main breaks and chokes

The number of sewer main breaks and chokes recorded are the combination of sewer pressure main breaks and sewer chokes. Sewer chokes occur when something inside a pipe stops it from working properly.

The reported number of sewer main breaks and chokes have predominately been caused by the ingress of tree roots into the pipelines, accounting for sixty-seven percent of all breaks and chokes.

Aging infrastructure across areas of the Central Coast, combined with legacy asset materials and construction techniques (for example vitreous clay pipes) will continue to impact results sporadically. Tree roots create problems in pipelines historically through nature seeking sources of moisture and nutrients that is readily available within sewage.

Over the reporting period, a number of sewer rising main renewal projects have progressed through the capital works program. These projects will take place over two years.

A community education program on what to flush and what not to flush has been introduced to assist in reducing the number of breaks and chokes. Learn more about Dunny Do's and Dunny Don'ts at lovewater.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au