SA Water is a government business enterprise wholly owned by the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

History

SA Water was established by the proclamation of the ''South Australian Water Corporation Act 1994'' on 1 July 1995. Prior to this its predecessor was known as ''Engineering and Water Supply Department (E&WS)''. E&WS evolved from the ''Waterworks and Drainage Commission'', which was established in 1856, 20 years after European settlement. Key infrastructure projects SA Water has undertaken include: * Morgan – Whyalla pipeline (1940–1944) * Mannum – Adelaide pipeline (1949–1955) *

Hope Valley Reservoir The Hope Valley Reservoir is a service reservoir in Hope Valley, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. When completed in 1873 it was the second reservoir constructed in Adelaide; it is the oldest still in use in South Austra ...

(commenced work 1869) *

Mount Bold Reservoir Mount Bold Reservoir is the largest reservoir in South Australia with a maximum capacity of over forty-six thousand megalitres. Costing A$1.1 million, the reservoir took six years to construct on the Onkaparinga River system between 1932 and 19 ...

(commenced work 1932) * Bolivar Waste Water Treatment Plant (commenced work 1961) * Swan Reach-Paskeville pipeline (extended from Swan Reach-Stockwell pipeline), 1960s *

Adelaide Desalination Plant The Adelaide Desalination plant (ADP), formerly known as the Port Stanvac Desalination Plant, is a sea water reverse osmosis desalination plant located in Lonsdale, South Australia which has the capacity to provide the city of Adelaide with up ...

(2008–2012) * North South Interconnection System Project (NSISP) (2010–2013)

Assets and infrastructure

SA Water manages, maintains and operates (with the assistance of its partners) assets worth $13 billion. These include: *More than 26,000 km of water mains *More than 8,700 km of sewer mains *More than 180 km of recycled water mains *30 water treatment plants *24

wastewater treatment Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environme ...

plants *More than 16 reservoirs with a total capacity of almost 200,000 megalitres *

Terminal Storage Mini Hydro Terminal Storage Mini Hydro is the name of an electricity generator operating in the supply pipes for Adelaide's water supply in South Australia. The facility is installed at Tea Tree Gully and uses a stainless steel turbine in the gravity-powere ...

, a 3MW electricity generator powered by water flowing from Anstey Hill to Hope Valley. SA Water also owns desalination plants at Lonsdale and

Penneshaw Penneshaw is a township in the Australian state of South Australia located on the northeast coast of the Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island about south of the state capital of Adelaide. It is the island's main ferry port with regular services ...

Location and staff

SA Water employs more than 1,500 people and has its head office in Victoria Square in Adelaide (SA Water House). Staff are also located across South Australia including offices in Mount Gambier, Berri, Mount Barker, Port Lincoln and Crystal Brook as well as Victoria and New South Wales. SA Water's customer service centre operates out of the head office in Victoria Square. SA Water House is also the headquarters of th
Australian Water Quality Centre
(AWQC).

Customers and community

SA Water provides water and wastewater services to a population of approximately 1.5 million people across South Australia. In 2011/12 the total volume of water delivered was 208,144 ML and the average residential consumption per household was 164.3 kL. SA Water runs a school education program called SA Water Brainwave that is offered free to South Australian schools. SA Water also offers free community tours of wastewater and water treatment plants. In 2013, SA Water opened the Kauwi Interpretive Centre at the Adelaide Desalination Plant which is also open for visitors.

References

External links