Caltex announced today it plans to switch to using recycled water at its Kurnell refinery in Sydney and save 4.5 million litres of drinking water a day.

Caltex's Kurnell refinery and its industrial neighbour Continental Carbon Australia would be sole joint users of six million litres of recycled water a day to be produced by a proposed new plant to process treated effluent extracted from Sydney Water facilities. Six million litres meets the needs of about 10,000 households a day.

The proposal to build the plant follows the completion of a 2005 feasibility study jointly commissioned by both companies together with Sydney Water Corporation and facilitated by the NSW Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability to evaluate options for a commercially attractive water recycling system. It would be built and operated as a joint venture between water treatment specialists Burns and Roe Worley and United Utilities Australia and is expected to be completed by mid-2007, subject to final agreements and approvals.

"Conserving water is an important goal of the Kurnell refinery and this plant will mean 65-70 percent of its water needs would be met from recycled water," Caltex Refining General Manager Eion Turnbull said. "This project is an excellent example of business and government working together to remove obstacles and find opportunities to reduce the demand on Sydney's water supply."

The Caltex refinery is one of Sydney Water's largest customers and currently uses around 6.2 million litres of water a day primarily to generate steam used for heating and to drive rotating equipment such as pumps and compressors. The refinery also requires large quantities of water for its cooling towers and for use in the oil refining process.

Caltex would invest in infrastructure connecting the refinery to the water recycling plant, including pipelines and control systems, with funding support to be provided through a grant from the NSW Government Water Savings Fund.

Caltex is Australia's largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products and supplies around 60 percent of the New South Wales fuels market. The Kurnell oil refinery with a current throughput capacity of 124,000 barrels a day is the larger of two fuels refineries operated by the company. Caltex also operates an associated lubricating oil refinery at Kurnell.

Media contact:
Richard Beattie
Group Manager Corporate Affairs
Phone: 02 9250 5224
Pager: 02 9214 1146