Sydney Water has launched the Refresh Vaucluse & Diamond Bay wastewater project, which should bring big changes to the water and beaches here. This is why.

Ever wondered where all the litter and rubbish deposited on Collins, Little Manly and Manly Cove beaches comes from? Or why our section of the harbour is so turbid after a southerly?

Many people probably don’t know that there are three sewage outfalls pumping untreated sewage directly off the cliff face into the ocean on the eastern side of South Head at Vaucluse, Diamond Bay and Dover Heights.

After years of lobbying by the MCF committee members and others, Sydney Water finally has the funding and a project to stop this appalling pollution of our environment.

The plan, now well advanced, is to divert the wastewater away from the ocean and send it to a nearby treatment plant in Bondi, maximising the use of Sydney Water’s existing network while keeping construction and environmental impacts to a minimum. HOORAY!

This means crap and litter won’t be pushed around South Head into the harbour and across to Manly when there is a southerly, and we will see cleaner and safer beaches.

Anyone interested in joining this Sydney Water Community Reference Group Committee should get in contact with us. It meets four times a year at North Head and is very interesting if water, waste or otherwise is your thing.