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The NSW government says no homes will be demolished or acquired if a 9.5km pipeline is built to link a future Sydney desalination plant to the city's water mains.
The construction of a plant capable of desalinating 125 megalitres of sea water a day will be given the go ahead if dam levels fall to 30 per cent - something which could occur within weeks.
A pipeline would stretch from the plant at Kurnell in southern Sydney to the inner western suburbs to link up with the city's main water tunnels.
News Limited reported that if a concept plan was followed, the pipeline would pass under 15 suburbs, requiring property acquisitions and causing road closures and excessive noise for residents.
But NSW Water Utilities Minister David Campbell says the government had decided not to follow the concept plan.
Under the government's preferred plan, only one kilometre of pipeline would be built under residential areas and disruption to residents would be minimised, Mr Campbell said.
Most of the pipeline would be located under roads and public space, he said.
"No home will be acquired, no home will be abolished to construct this new piece of pipeline, this new piece of infrastructure, if indeed it is built," Mr Campbell told reporters.
Under the preferred plan, the pipeline would begin at Kurnell, pass under Botany Bay to Kyeemagh and then under Kogarah, Tempe, St Peters, Alexandria and Erskineville.
Opposition water utilities spokesman Andrew Stoner said the government was trying to cover up the extent of the chaos the construction of the pipeline would cause.
"The huge disruption the distribution network will create for Sydney families is further reason why Labor's desalination plant should not go ahead," Mr Stoner said in a statement.
Mr Campbell said 75km of new water mains were already constructed in Sydney each year.
"The city doesn't grind to a halt with 75km per annum, so the construction over a period of about two years of 9.5km, from Kyeemagh to Erskineville, clearly won't close down half of Sydney or the southern suburbs," he said.
The government is expected to announce the preferred tenderer for the construction of the desalination plant within weeks.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma said the preferred route was a change for the better from the concept plan and had been developed following advice from the public and experts.
He denied there had been any secrecy about the change.
"This is part of material that has been made available to the public," Mr Iemma told reporters.
"I reject out of hand the assertion that there is some secret agenda."
Mr Iemma said details of the preferred route had been made available for the public for 70 days and would be submitted for cabinet approval in the near future.
