6.8.1 TasWater

Tasmania consumes around 60 GL of drinking water per year.490 Household drinking water represents approximately 15 per cent of all water use in Tasmania. Demand is met by TasWater, a state wide vertically integrated urban water and sewerage provider.

TasWater is the only provider of drinking water and sewerage services in Tasmania. It was formed from the merger of three former regional water and sewerage corporations, and is owned by Tasmania's 29 councils.

The company owns and manages 6,380 km of water mains and 60 water treatment plants and dosing stations. It treats and removes approximately 50 GL of sewage annually through its network, comprising 4,288 km of gravity and 380 km of pressure mains, 728 sewer pump stations and 33 level one sewage treatments plants and 79 level two sewage treatment plants. Water services are provided to 200,000 connections and sewerage to 178,000 connections. TasWater also provides stormwater transfer and treatment services to the Launceston combined drainage area.

Problems in Tasmania's sewerage infrastructure are generally concentrated around Hobart, largely due to the age of the infrastructure, and in the north of the island. Significant investment will be required in the period to 2031, especially for plants discharging into the Tamar and Derwent rivers.491

TasWater has forecast population growth for Tasmania of around 0.5 per cent per year,492 focused in small pockets around Brighton, Clarence and Kingston in the south, Newnham, Kings Meadows and Legana in the north, and Port Sorell in the north western regions of Tasmania. This is in line with the Audit's projections. These areas will likely account for the majority of new demand in the coming years.

Table 84 details projected water and sewage treatment demand through to 2018 for residential and some non-residential water users. While there is no long-term water supply plan extending to 2031, Tasmania's urban water supply arrangements appear to be secure for the next 15 years, given the low projected increases in population. However, climatic variability and change are important risk factors which need to be addressed in future water supply planning.

Table 84: Predicted water and sewage treatment demand 2015-16 to 2017-18 for 20 mm connections

Source: TasWater (2014b)

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490. Office of the Tasmanian Economic Regulator (2015)

491. TasWater (2014b)

492. Office of the Tasmanian Economic Regulator (2015)