Water Efficiency in Apartments
What is the program about?
Is your strata block pouring money down the drain (almost) literally? Sydney Water assist apartment buildings and strata schemes to reduce water use and provide support to help lower running costs.
Sydney Water's WaterFix® Strata program delivers large scale, cost-effective water savings to inefficient residential strata-managed buildings.
The water savings are achieved by:
- repairing leaking taps and toilets
- installing water efficient devices in each apartment
- replacing faulty tapware and single-flush toilets
- finding any concealed leaks
- fixing leaks in common areas
This service includes specialist plumbing, project management, community consultation and appointment scheduling solutions. The cost and water savings are immediate and buildings also benefit from energy savings due to reduced hot water use.
How does it work?
Sydney Water estimates a building's possible water savings by:
- reviewing the building's water consumption history
- identifying the total number of bedrooms
- using this information to benchmark the building's water use and classify the building's water use as either best practice, typical, high or very high.
If the estimate shows that a building looks to have a good savings potential, Sydney Water will work with the strata manager to inspect a sample of units in the building for the purpose of providing a quote. Once the site inspection has been completed, Sydney Water will provide a quote. If the quote is accepted, licenced plumbers will check every unit in the building for leaking taps and fittings, complete any repair work needed and fit water efficient products devices as required.
Sydney Water offer an accurate quotation process, project management, appointment coordination and financing options. The costs incurred from the WaterFix® program are charged to the strata, and for eligible customers, may have no upfront charges, with the cost of the WaterFix® being paid by the savings.
Why get involved?
Buildings selected to participate will receive:
- Free water benchmarking performed by industry specialists
- Buildings with high water usage will receive a proposal to reduce water usage by approximately 30%
- Eligible customers may be offered a performance payment plan, where the cost of the WaterFix® is paid by the water savings
- Implementation support
How to apply
Visit the WaterFix Strata website.
Project process:
- Sydney Water benchmark usage
- If the benchmark is categorised as 'very high' Sydney Water will do a free site inspection
- If the benchmark is 'best practice' or 'typical' no action is required.
- The building management or strata committee reviews the water saving options and determines implementation.
