She blamed work on the desalination plant for the mess.

``I've lived in the area since 1997, here on the beachfront for four years, and it's never been like this before,'' she said.

Two neighbours suffered similar ``sand blasting'', she said.

A frustrated Mrs Curby left a phone message on the Sydney Water hotline.

Her call was returned within the hour and Sydney Water organised free cleaning of both inside and outside the house.

``What I want to know is if this happens again whether I'll get the same sort of help, or if this is a one-off situation,'' she said.

``We could get the same sort of winds again and have the same problems.

``Sand and dirt came in around the windows downstairs and on the patio.''

``The desalination plant has changed the natural flow of the wind and the sand.''

Mrs Curby said when she went to the nearby Kurnell Sydney Water information centre to complain, no one was manning the office.

``They're open all different times, you don't know when anyone will be there, and so I rang the hotline and left a message.''

A Sydney Water spokesman said the Kurnell Community Information Centre was open on Mondays from 4pm to 6pm, Tuesdays from 11am to 12.30pm, Wednesdays from 10am to noon, Thursdays from 1pm to 3pm, Fridays from noon to 2pm and Saturdays from 9am to 11am.

He said desalination plant drivers were told to clean up any mess on the road and there was a wash bay for vehicles involved in working at the desalination leaving the site.

A Sydney Water spokesman said that it responded to all desalination project 1800 number inquiries within 24 hours and any urgent matters were given highest priority.