Bathurst is Australia’s oldest inland settlement located just over 200 kilometres west of Sydney on the Macquarie River and provides a beautiful country lifestyle. An idyllic lifestyle is supported by quality infrastructure and essential services that contribute to a steady annual growth rate of 1.2%.

The raising of sheep, cattle and horses, which began with the earliest European occupation of the land, is still practised on large land holdings near the city. However, education is now the largest single industry. Other contributions to the local economy are made by fruit and vegetable production, a vegetable cannery, a fish processing plant, a pet food processing plant, government departments and community services.

Council’s aim is to supply a clean, safe and secure water supply to the people of Bathurst on a way which meets their needs. This must be done in an efficient, cost effective manner which maximises the potential benefits of the resource and satisfies the needs of the natural ecosystem in an ecologically sustainable way.

The major water storage for Bathurst is Ben Chifley Dam located on the Campbell’s river some 17 kilometres upstream of Bathurst. Water released from the dam flows down the Campbell’s river into the Macquarie River. It is then drawn from the Macquarie to supply Bathurst. Ben Chifley Dam is an earth and rock fill structure. The catchment area is 960 square kilometres, and the dam’s capacity with the present wall height is 30,800 million litres. Council manages both its water supply and sewerage systems.

Water is treated through a conventional sand filter plant built in 1886. While the sewer plant was built in 1910, the current plant built in 1976, was the original “Bathurst Box” treatment process. This is the prototype of many such plants now built throughout New South Wales and elsewhere.