Stormwater

How we manage stormwater

Collecting and transporting stormwater is an important part of our work. To manage stormwater, we use large scale trunk drainage systems which take the stormwater and transports it to receiving waters.

Typically our stormwater system consists of open concrete lined trapezoidal sections and concrete box culvert and some large diameter pipe sections. The stormwater infrastructure controlled by the local councils includes street drainage (inlet pits and pipes) which drain into the our system and the less formalised ‘natural’ channels throughout the local government areas upstream and sometimes downstream of our systems.

We operate 80 kilometres of stormwater channels and culverts in Newcastle, and 11 kilometres in Cessnock. In the like Lake Macquarie local government area we only have a small involvement in one sub-catchment which covers four kilometres of stormwater works. See the map for more detail. Hunter Water has no stormwater assets or responsibility in Maitland and Port Stephens.

These works are mainly in the urban catchments of Throsby Creek and Cottage Creek, with some infrastructure in the Dark Creek and Wallsend-Plattsburg sub-catchments of Ironbark Creek.

Stormwater pollutant reduction structures in the stormwater system include:

• sediment traps
• floating booms
• gross pollutant traps
• trash racks.

These devices help to protect our coastal estuaries and beaches from pollutants found in stormwater such as floating rubbish, oil and hydrocarbons and organic matter.

Stormwater drainage systems – the details

The total gazetted length of all stormwater assets under Hunter Water’s control is 94.4 kilometres. Details of the stormwater drainage systems are provided below.

Cottage Creek Stormwater System, Newcastle

This system is mainly open, with concrete trapezoidal and rectangular sections up to 12.3 metres wide. Covered sections are in concrete with small laterals of reinforced concrete pipes. The total length, including branches, is 18.6 kilometres.

Throsby Creek Stormwater System, Newcastle & Lake Macquarie

This system is mainly open, with sections lined with concrete up to 55 metres wide. Covered sections are in concrete of variable section, rectangular in the larger sizes with reinforced concrete cover. Smaller laterals consist of reinforced concrete pipes or box culverts. The total length is 54.2 kilometres.

Jesmond Stormwater Channel (Dark Creek System), Newcastle

This system is generally open section with the portions under roadways constructed of box section. Some laterals are constructed of reinforced concrete pipe or reinforced concrete box culverts. The total length is 4.7 kilometres.

Wallsend Plattsburg Stormwater Channel, Newcastle

The channel is generally reinforced concrete open section with reinforced concrete box culverts or pipe branches. The total length is 2.3 kilometres.

Cardiff Stormwater Channel (Winding Creek System), Lake Macquarie

This system is mainly open concrete trapezoidal or rectangular section with the portions under roadways constructed of box section. The total length is 3.9 kilometres.

Cessnock Stormwater Channel System, Cessnock

This system is generally open section, but some lengths in roadways are box section. The total length of the system is 10.6 kilometres.