Overview
- Sydney Water awarded a $750 million contract to the Malabar System Alliance, with costs recovered from customer bills approved by IPART.
- Early works focus on upgrades at Glenfield, Liverpool and Fairfield over four to five years, alongside overlapping network improvements.
- The decade-long program seeks to cut discharges via the Malabar deep ocean outfall and enable planned housing growth in south‑west Sydney.
- The EPA traced the debris balls to the Malabar system, with testing identifying fats, oils and grease mixed with human waste, plastics and some petroleum hydrocarbons.
- Short‑term measures include increased cleaning and inspection of ocean outfall screens, tighter trade‑waste controls and expanded public education, with limited service impacts expected.