Draft Report - Review of prices for Sydney Water Corporation from 1 October 2025 - May 2025

Our draft maximum prices would see typical household bills for water and wastewater services increase, on average, by around $61 (or 4.6%) each year over 5 years plus yearly inflation. This is lower than Sydney Water’s proposed average yearly increases of around $130 (or 8.9%), plus inflation. This would result in typical household bills increasing from the current level of around $1,220 in 2024-25 to $1,527, plus inflation, by 2029-30.

In reaching our draft decisions, we considered expert advice from AtkinsRéalis on Sydney Water’s efficient capital and operating expenditure. We also considered all feedback we received from stakeholders, our legislative responsibilities and the following factors as required by the NSW Government: 

• the cost-of-living impacts of Sydney Water’s prices
• the effectiveness of existing rebates to manage the social impacts of Sydney Water’s prices
• opportunities to adjust project timelines to minimise price impacts and, if necessary, to reduce the proposed capital programs in line with least cost planning principles
• deliverability of the proposed capital plans based on capability and market conditions.

Our draft decisions aim to balance customer affordability with the need to protect services by providing Sydney Water with adequate funding to meet its regulatory obligations and deliver customer outcomes. You can use our bill calculator to find out what our proposed prices could mean for your bill.

We thank all stakeholders for their input

We sought feedback on our draft decisions and recommendations between 20 May and 23 June 2025. We thank all stakeholders for their input during this period. We will consider all submissions and survey responses before preparing and releasing our Final Report on Sydney Water’s prices from 1 October 2025.