Work with us
Collaboration is the key to success
We're working with partners all over Greater Sydney to help activate new swimming and aquatic recreation sites. We know that opening new sites can be complex, but our expertise can make this process easier and faster for our partner organisations. We will help you navigate the pathway from initial concept through to delivery, and then continue to support you with ongoing management.
Our services
We can help with activating your site, whether for swimming, kayaking or other type of aquatic recreation. As an Urban Plunge partner, you'll have access to:
1. RiverWatch® water quality monitoring
Sydney Water's own National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accredited labs can support all stages of site activation and ongoing management. We offer RiverWatch monitoring in three packages:
Feasibility Monitoring: To understand initial water quality and assess whether a site should progress to the next phase of investigation.
Establishment Monitoring: Collection of at least 100 samples in accordance with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Guidelines for Managing Risks in Recreational Water, to understand how your site performs under a range of conditions.
Ongoing Monitoring: To support ongoing management of the site.
2. High quality public information
Our Urban Plunge website provides real-time updates on water quality every 6 hours using predictive modelling capability, so the public knows when and where it is safe to swim. As a partner, you'll have access to your own page on our website. We can also share water quality information through a direct feed to your own website.
3. Specialist support and stakeholder assurance
Sydney Water along with the University of NSW (UNSW), the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), Department of Planning and Environment (DPE), NSW Health and councils have worked with specialist consultancy Environmental Risk Sciences (EnRiskS) to develop a framework for assessing human health risks associated with opening swim sites in locations which may be impacted by legacy contaminants.
Our established relationships with government agencies can ensure sites meet relevant risk guidelines.
4. Rapid access to water infrastructure expertise
We can work with our internal teams to understand the wastewater and stormwater infrastructure around the site and mitigate risks of infrastructure negatively impacting the site. Should any wastewater infrastructure issue affect the site, Sydney Water can proactively manage this.
5. Ongoing risk assessments
We can undertake annual sanitary inspections of your site to identify potential sources of contamination and assist in developing an annual swim site suitability grading.
6. Key delivery partners
We can connect you with the right partners to support the design, delivery and ongoing management of your site, providing you with confidence that your site can be opened and operated safely.
7. Support with grant funding applications
We can support partners in developing grant funding applications for their sites.
Need more reasons to get involved?
We're doing all we can to support councils, NSW government agencies and their partners as they consider whether to start a new Urban Plunge project or move into the design and delivery stages with an existing project. We invite you to join us for site visits, webinars and workshops. Contact us to find out more about working with Urban Plunge.