[1][2] The aquifer is chiefly filled by rainfall, some contributions from irrigation, seeping service mains and flow from the subjacent bedrock units.

In April 1770, Lieutenant James Cook and Sir Joseph Banks both discovered indigenous "huts" on the northern boundary of the bay and heaths which ascended to high sandy ridges.

In 1815, a wool factory was constructed, adjoining the ponds north of Botany Bay, in addition to other industries being built in vicinity for their contaminated waste to enter the surface water and the groundwater.

[1] Today, it still is a crucial source of water for parklands, public and residential gardens, industry and wetlands.

Whilst the Botany Sands aquifer is still a key source of groundwater in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, the increasing use of land above the aquifer for industry, golf courses and garden watering, among other things, have caused the groundwater to become contaminated due to the industrial pollutants and is therefore unsafe for drinking.