ABC News (AU)
· collected 2026-10-05 · by Digby Werthmuller and Nabil Al-Nashar
Concerns have been raised about a new $1.2 billion wastewater treatment facility in Kemps Creek, Western Sydney, which treats 35 million liters (about 14 Olympic-sized swimming pools) of water daily and plans to double capacity as the city grows. Professor Stuart Khan from UNSW questions how demand from data centers will be met without impacting planned future recycled water supply for other uses. The Greater Sydney Water Strategy plan did not account for data center usage, raising concerns about sustainable water allocation strategies moving forward.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
In short:
Concerns are being raised about a $1.2 billion water facility meant to bolster drought resistance being directed to service data centres.
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Concerns → raise → centres
The new Kemps Creek facility treats 14 Olympic-sized swimming pools of wastewater a day, but there are plans to double it as the city grows.
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city → treat → it
One expert told the ABC there were questions surrounding how the extra supply needed from data centre usage would be replaced.
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supply → tell → usage
Concerns have been raised about recycled water from a new $1.2 billion facility built to bolster Western Sydney's drought resilience being used by data centres.
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Concerns → raise → centres
The Kemps Creek facility opened last month to treat 35 million litres, or roughly 14 Olympic-sized swimming pools, of wastewater daily.
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facility → open → wastewater
There are plans to double this to 70 million litres as the city grows.
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city → be → litres
Stuart Khan, who has published more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles on issues relating to water quality and treatment, said demand from data centres was not accounted for in the Greater Sydney Water Strategy plan, which was created in 2022.
"We have identified that we can get up to 140 gigalitres per year … from recycled water schemes into the future over the next couple of decades," Professor Khan said.
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Khan → publish → decades
"If we take that away from customers, we give it to a new industry that wasn't accounted for in the strategy, then we need to think about where we are going to replace that future water supply from."
The strategy was designed to address the increasing pressure on water supplies due to a growing population and unpredictable climate cycles.
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strategy → take → population
While the new Badu Yarragul Water Resource Recovery Facility at Kemps Creek's environmental impact statement nor its environment protection licence mentioned data centres explicitly, it does reference "industrial and business use".
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it → mention → use
Professor Khan said while data centres provided opportunity for Sydney, there needed to be consideration for how recycled water was prioritised.
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water → say → Sydney
Future demand
The facility has capacity to connect 140,000 new homes and businesses across Western Sydney, including the new airport.
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facility → have → airport
Sydney Water said the facility would produce high-quality treated water suitable for non-drinking purposes in homes, industrial and business use, agriculture, and for greening public spaces.
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facility → say → spaces
"There's a real opportunity for this to be used for data centres," Sydney Water managing director Darren Cleary said.
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Cleary → be → centres
Mr Cleary told ABC News the water utility was investing $14 billion in capital over the next five years to ensure demand was met.
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demand → tell → years
"The infrastructure that will be delivered for them [data centres] will have to be done in a way that doesn't affect the services we provide to the broader customer base," Mr Cleary said.
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Cleary → deliver → base
"So fundamentally they'll pay their way."
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they → pay → way
Sydney Water has confirmed a new wastewater treatment plant at Camellia-Rosehill, due to open by 2032, would also supply recycled water to data centres.
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plant → confirm → centres
Sanaa Shah, a senior campaigner for Sweltering Cities, which advocates for community-driven solutions to urban heat in Western Sydney, said water use had not been adequately considered in data centre proposals and local residents were concerned they would be caught short.
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they → advocate → proposals
"They remember the drought period, they remember water restrictions and they don't know if these rules are going to be equally applied to data centres," she said.
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she → remember → centres
"What we're witnessing right now is a frantic, reckless data centre boom … there's a lot of uncertainty around these proposals."
Ms Shah called for a moratorium on data centre proposals until there were clear safeguards in place "to ensure that these big data centres don't suck up our energy resources and don't result in higher energy bills".
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centres → witness → bills
"The current SSD [state significant development] planning pipeline contains 18 data centre projects valued at $61.22 billion in capital investment," a spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → contain → investment
With the Badu Yarragul facility now online, Professor Khan questioned whether it should supply recycled water for the city's drinking water supply, instead of data centres.
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it → question → centres
"The ability to produce very highly purified, very safe water is well established … including in Perth," he said.
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he → produce → Perth
The intention is to use it for a non-drinking water source."
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intention → use → source
Professor Khan said the facility would need to get regulatory approval for a drinking water supply.
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facility → say → supply
Sydney Water confirmed purified recycled water for drinking was a possibility as part of long-term plan outlined in the Greater Sydney Water Strategy.
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water → confirm → Strategy
"It's really a question for community and government about whether that is something that they would accept and value," Mr Cleary said.
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Cleary → accept → that
Mr Cleary said a decision would need to be made within the next 10 years.
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decision → say → years
The Aporia