That's interesting, the activities seem to be related to some peripheral businesses, nothing to do with water supply. Is there a shortage of water that caused price doubling?
Some years back (maybe decades) there were serious drafts in NSW. Water levels in
Warragamba Dam were at a critical low level. With such backdrop, NSW Gov kicked in its plan B for water supply and invested in a large recycled water plant and the appropriate distribution infrastructure - very costly, imagine all the excavations required for piping this water to customers, in a metropolitan area. This water is not fit for personal use or drinking hence requires full separate distribution piping and metering.
Several years on, the weather has changed, we have too much water here, Warragamba Dam is at 88%, and now we are stuck with the expensive recycling plant that is not really required and its product is more expensive than pure and superior town water. Customers (commercial mainly) had to be nudged with heavy subsidies to take up the offer of using the recycled water. Businesses got subsidies to install the required infrastructure that enables recycled water use, it could be said that subsidies covered the costs, otherwise no one wanted on board.
The government did what they had to do, they tried to mitigate the risk of water shortage, however, the circumstances have changed and now there is that asset that is not required and is expensive to run.
I see a lot of opportunity in water treatment plants as dealing with waste water is a considerable cost for many businesses. That market will grow in size.