› Flat Chat Strata Forum › Living in strata › Fire Order, hydrants, water flow, and policy issues › Current Page
It’s not a State Government policy issue, but rather is symptomatic of what happens when pressure (sorry) from developers forces Utilities such as Sydney Water to supply its services to multi-unit developments that tower above allotments where a few single dwellings once stood.
Electricity supply utilities can require these developers to provide for sub-stations within their developments and Councils require stormwater detention systems, but Utilities providing gas, water, and sewerage services are largely constrained by the limitations of their in-ground infrastructure.
As an aside but for the very same reasons, the peak dry-weather flows in Greater Sydney’s sewerage system were nearing design system capacities 12 years ago, and that design is four (4) times the expected maximum – so expect those problems to surface some time soon.
Anyway, back to your immediate problems. Sydney Water’s Operating License permits it to supply its services at levels below those given in its Standards of Service provided it negotiates a Service Agreement with affected customers.
That Service Agreement should give you and other residents some recourse, and may even secure some assistance with overcoming the issues that you’ve mentioned in your post, including some medium term forecasts.
Your Owners Corporation could act as the conduit (sorry again) to initiate discussions on that Service Agreement, so I’d suggest having a representative contact Sydney Water to get things moving.