The project was initiated to identify the potential for NSW Local Water Utilities (LWUs) within the NSW Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) to achieve water savings through urban water efficiency projects. This project forms part of the NSW Government’s commitment to support the delivery of water recovery through State-led efficiency measures under the Murray-Darling Basin Water Efficiency Program (MDBWE Program).
The Institute for Sustainable Futures, in collaboration with the Department of Planning, Industries and Environment (DPIE), developed a robust and replicable water savings assessment methodology and designed a water savings calculator tool referred to as the Systems Water Efficiency Estimation Tool, SWEET.
SWEET enables the assessment of water savings opportunities by system for non-coastal Local Water Utilities (LWUs) in the NSW. The tool allows analysis of the water savings potential of a range of options, as well as the cost of savings for each system.
When analysing the set of 21 LWUs using SWEET, most of the LWUs exhibited overall average savings of between 5% and 20%, with the average saving across all 21 LWUs being around 13%.
The findings of this project therefore suggest several opportunities for deploying water efficiency measures in LWUs across the whole of the Murray-Darling Basin, will support the development of the NSW Regional Water Efficiency Strategy.
Researchers
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Professor and Research Director -
Research Principal -
Research Consultant -
Research Assistant -
Associate Professor and Research Director -
Senior Research Consultant
Years
- 2020-2021
Location
- Sydney
Client
- NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
