Sydney Water has been ordered to clean the fat clogging up its Malabar deepwater ocean sewer by NSW\u2019s environmental watchdog.<\/p>\n
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has demanded a pollution reduction program to be carried out at the waste management plant, with the \u201cfatberg\u201d potentially the size of four Sydney buses. <\/p>\n
The order comes a month after Sydney Water was revealed to be the culprit for the mysterious sewage balls washing up on NSW beaches in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n
Sydney Water is \u201cresponsible for ensuring it doesn\u2019t pollute our beautiful beaches and this important work is a step towards that,\u201d NSW EPA executive director of operations Steve Beaman said. <\/p>\n
A Sydney Water assessment report in August last year revealed the poo balls were sourced from fats, oils and grease accumulating inside Malabar\u2019s sewage tunnels and chambers. <\/p>\n
Fixing the accumulated fatberg has proved a challenge, as the only accessible area \u2014 the bulkhead entrance \u2014 is underwater and can only be accessed at low tide. <\/p>\n
However, as risky as the cleaning operations are, the accessible areas of the Malabar sewage plant are reported to be regularly cleaned.<\/p>\n
Fifty-three tonnes of the accumulated waste were reported to have been cleared in April last year. <\/p>\n
When the sewage plant maintenance system was first designed in the 1980s, waste would have been diverted to flow over Sydney\u2019s cliff faces and beaches. <\/p>\n
However, the report revealed such maintenance had \u201cnever been done\u201d and was \u201cno longer considered an acceptable approach.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report said the chamber could only be accessed by taking the plant offline, a step which would ultimately lead to the waste being diverted to Sydney\u2019s cliff faces which would close Sydney\u2019s beaches.<\/p>\n
It added: \u201cThe waste chamber was not designed to be regularly maintained\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Monday, NSW EPA said Sydney Water\u2019s pollution reduction program would require \u201ca range of significant works, including fat removal from the Malabar deep ocean outfall bulkhead area, to reduce the likelihood of further debris balls washing up on the state\u2019s beaches\u201d.<\/p>\n
A Sydney Water spokesperson said in a statement the organisation would \u201cimplement these measures in close collaboration with the EPA,\u201d and was working closely with the independent Wastewater Expert Panel, local councils, government agencies and the community.<\/p>\n
NSW EPA also ordered Sydney Water to develop \u201ca system to capture debris overflowing from the sewer during severe wet weather events\u201d after investigations into the cause revealed the plant\u2019s loss of power in October 2024 stopped the pumps of the raw sewage for four minutes. <\/p>\n
This loss of power created a \u201crapid increase to high flow again\u201d after power returned that dislodged some of the fatberg that accumulated behind the bulkhead door. <\/p>\n
The drop and then increase in pressure \u201cdue to wet weather\u201d in January last year created a similar result. <\/p>\n
\u201cDebris balls are a complex problem and the EPA will continue to regulate Sydney Water to protect our precious natural environment,\u201d Mr Beaman said.<\/p>\n