About SA Water

SA Water manages water services in South Australia. Read on to find out who we are and what we do.

SA Water

SA Water is a successful, modern water utility that is wholly owned by the Government of South Australia. We employ more than 1,600 people across a broad range of disciplines who operate more than $14 billion of assets. We deliver essential water and sewerage services to more than 1.8 million South Australians.

We operate in a geographically and climatically diverse service area, with sites and locations from Ceduna through to Port Augusta, the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, across to the Riverland and down to Mount Gambier, and most places in between.

Our strength and expertise has been shaped throughout our history by many challenges – the driest state, vast distances, prolonged drought conditions and the quality and scarcity of our source water.

We interact with a large number of stakeholders and customers, both internal and external, which shape our operating environment. The quality of our products and services has a broad impact, from an immediate contact with our business and residential customers to a state-wide influence on the growth and prosperity of South Australia.

The importance of our products and services means that we have several independent regulators to make sure that we comply with major pieces of legislation and obligations. We have several management systems in place, such as the Drinking Water Management System (DWQMS), Environmental Management System (EMS) and Safety Management System, to manage risk, maintain compliance and improve business efficiency.

What we do

SA Water provides services to around 1.8 million South Australians. We:

• supply water
• remove sewage from homes and businesses
• treat sewage and wastewater
• recycle some wastewater.

We work hard to ensure your water is high quality, safe to drink and always available. We make sure you can find out how good your water is.

SA Water maintains and operates 10 major metropolitan reservoirs. We also look after the network of pipes, taking water to and from your property. This is why we are involved in land development.

It takes a lot of people to make all this happen.

How we do it

At SA Water we have a strategic plan that sets our direction and influences how we make decisions. You can read more about it here.

Feedback from customers is also used to improve our services. We use customer feedback and market research to guide the decisions we make. Two Customer Advisory Panels also provide feedback to help us improve our services.

Our water testing services also help to ensure that the water we deliver meets the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. We work with the community in other ways too. We offer community sponsorships, and we are part of global projects like WaterAid. You can read more about our community work here.

We care about the future of South Australia and we are committed to sustainability. When we make decisions, we always consider the long term future of our state's economy, society and environment.  The principles that we consider in our decision making include:

• Economic efficiency – We will be as efficient and effective as possible, balancing affordability with great service delivery.
• Environmental performance – We will work to reduce our environmental footprint and improve our climate resilience.
• Social responsibility – We will apply our skills, assets and services for the greater benefit of the state and people of South Australia.