We’re one of Australia’s largest water utilities, providing water and sewerage services to over 2 million people and over 60,000 businesses in Melbourne’s northern and eastern suburbs. Our purpose is to support the health and wellbeing of our customers and create a brighter future for communities and the natural environment.

Established in January 1995, we maintain and operate over 21,000 kilometres of water, recycled water and sewer mains, 44 water supply tanks and 9 sewage treatment plants. We buy our water from Melbourne Water, which also operates the major sewage treatment works that service Melbourne.

We’re committed to providing you with the highest quality water and sewerage services as well as offering responsive customer support. We’re also dedicated to ensuring our services are delivered in ways that have minimal effect on the environment.

As a valued customer, your satisfaction with our services is important to us. This charter summary outlines your rights and our obligations based on the Water Industry Standard issued by the Essential Services Commission (ESC). The ESC is the economic regulator of the Victorian water industry and their responsibility is to protect the interests of water and sewerage customers.

This charter also incorporates feedback from customers about what matters most to them when it comes to their water and sewerage services. We engaged extensively with customers as part of our 5-year planning process for 2023-28 – every 5 years we’re required to propose the prices we’ll charge and the service standards we’ll provide customers, to the ESC for their review. This has helped us identify what customers want and value the most. This led to the creation of 6 service outcomes based on the services we provide to customers now and the action we need to take now for the future.

Customers expect:

• Water that’s safe to drink.
• Water and sewerage services they can rely on.
• Fast response and effective restoration of their service when it’s interrupted.
• A service that is accessible and adaptable to meet their needs.
• Saving water now, so it’s available in the future.
• Looking after the natural environment.

Overarching these outcomes is a new commitment to embed a caring for Country philosophy across all our decisions and outcomes.

We’re committed to achieving these outcomes and if an outcome isn’t achieved, we’ll return $1.8 million the following year through a community rebate for each outcome not achieved.

We can only change our charter after consulting with customers and receiving the Essential Services Commission’s approval. A copy of our entire Customer Charter is available at yvw.com.au/charters or by contacting us at [email protected] or on 1300 304 688.

As a customer you can expect:

• A drinking water supply that meets regulatory health requirements established by the Department of Health and is safe, clear and free from objectionable tastes and odours.
• A water flow rate that meets minimum service standards. For a standard residential dwelling this is 20 litres per minute to the property boundary.
• Continuous water supply that isn’t interrupted more than 2 times a year due to unplanned events.
• A sewerage service that isn’t interrupted more than 2 times a year.
• One week’s written notice of any planned interruptions to our services (including when they’ll occur and for how long).
• Planned interruptions to your water supply won’t occur during peak hours (5 am to 9 am and 5 pm to 11 pm) and will take no longer than 5 hours.
• Unplanned water supply interruptions will be restored within 4 hours of being notified.
• Where a burst water main threatens substantial or moderate property or environmental damage, we’ll attend the site as soon as we can after being notified.
• Interruptions to your sewerage service will be assessed and contained within 4 hours of being notified. If a sewage spill occurs inside your home, we’ll assess and contain the spill within one hour.
• A flow rate of at least 2 litres per minute at the tap nearest the meter, if your water supply is restricted. If the restriction will cause a health hazard, call us on 13 27 62.

Water supply and sewerage services

We’re responsible for maintaining:

• The property water meter, pipes and fittings from our water main to the water meter on your property.
• The sewer and its branches up to the property connection point or a maximum of one metre from the sewer main (whichever is shorter).
• Up to the first stop valve or tap from the water main when there’s no meter.
• In the case of an owners corporation or multi‑resident developments, we’re responsible for maintaining:
• The water service up to and including the main property meter which is usually located at the property boundary.
• The water service to the property boundary if the meter is more than 2 metres inside the property boundary.
• Up to the first accessible stop valve from the water main if the meter is located inside a structure or building.

You and/or the owners corporation are required to maintain any pipe work on your side of the property water meter, at your cost. We’ll maintain the property meters and individual meters that are installed.

If the property has a private fire service, we’re responsible for maintaining up to the stop valve at the main. Property owners are responsible for the private fire service.

Private water mains

We’re not responsible for maintaining any shared or single service private water mains, also known as trunk services. We’ll maintain individual water meters where they’re installed on these services.

We’re committed to delivering high standards of service.

If we fail to meet this commitment to you by not meeting our guaranteed service levels, you’ll be eligible for a rebate on your next bill.

Sometimes we need to turn the water off to replace a pipe or interrupt the sewerage service to unblock or replace a sewer pipe.

In the case of a planned interruption, we’ll give you a $50 rebate if:

• We fail to give at least one week’s notice of planned interruptions to your water.
• Your water supply is interrupted for more than 5 hours.
• The interruption is longer than we said it’d be.
• Your water supply is interrupted between 5 am and 9 am or 5 pm and 11 pm.

In the case of an emergency where our water mains burst or sewers become blocked, we need to turn the water or sewer off without warning. We’ll give you a $50 rebate if:

• Your water supply is interrupted for more than 4 hours – you’ll receive an additional $50 if this extends to more than 12 hours.
• We fail to restore a sewerage service interruption within 4 hours – you’ll receive an additional $50 if this extends to more than 12 hours. This doesn’t include sewer service interruptions caused by your pipe work.
• You experience more than 2 unplanned water or sewerage service interruptions in any 12-month period – you’ll receive $50 for the third and any subsequent unplanned interruptions.
• We don’t reply to your written contact within 4 working days.

A $300 rebate will be given if:

• We commence legal action or take steps to restrict water supply before taking reasonable endeavours to contact the customer and provide information about the help available for customers experiencing financial difficulty.

The following rebates will be given if:

• We fail to contain a sewage spill inside your house within one hour of the spill being reported to us – $1,000 rebate.
• You experience a subsequent sewage spill inside your house within 12 months which isn’t contained within one hour of it being reported to us – $2,000 rebate.
• We fail to contain a sewage spill on your property within 4 hours of the spill being reported to us – $1,000 rebate.
• You experience a subsequent sewage spill on your property within 12 months which isn’t contained within 4 hours of it being reported to us – $2,000 rebate.

Community rebate

If we issue any water quality advisory notice, we’ll pay a community rebate of:

• $5,000 per local government area where less than 50 customers are affected.
• $10,000 per postcode where 50 or more customers are affected.

Additional commitments

• If we don’t provide an adequate water flow rate (unless there’s a restriction in place), we’ll waive the Water Supply System Charge until we meet the minimum standard.
• If you contact us about 2 or more separate water quality issues in a 12-month period, you’ll receive a $50 rebate for the third and each subsequent issue.

You don’t have to claim a rebate as they’re provided automatically. Please note, the rebate will be made to the customer occupying the property and won’t be given if an event is caused by, or the responsibility of, the customer concerned or a third party.

Your quarterly account will generally include 2 types of charges. The first are fixed water supply system and sewerage system charges, and the second are volumetric charges relating to water and sewer usage, based on meter readings taken 4 times a year.

We also collect charges on behalf of Parks Victoria for parks services and Melbourne Water for waterways and drainage from customers who own a property within Melbourne Water’s Waterways Management District.

If we inadvertently overcharge you, we’ll either give you a credit on your next bill or offer you a refund.

If we undercharge you, we’ll discuss any necessary adjustments and tailor a repayment plan to suit.

If you’re having trouble paying your account please call us on 1800 994 789.

Our team will treat you with respect and dignity and we can offer support and flexibility to suit your situation, including:

• Providing information on government concessions and grants that may be available to you.
• Setting up a flexible payment arrangement that takes your capacity to pay into account.
• Referring you to free and independent financial counselling and other service providers’ support programs.
• Providing advice to reduce your water use and your bill.

Anyone holding a recognised concession card such as a Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card or Gold Card (for all conditions except Dependent) is eligible for State Government funded concessions on their water and sewerage charges.

Our Hardship Policy is available:

• Online at yvw.com.au/hardship
• On request by calling 1800 994 789

You must pay your account by the due date on your bill. Payment methods include:

• Direct debit
• Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
• BPAY
• Credit card – online at yvw.com.au/pay, via your online account at yvw.com.au/online or by phone on 1300 362 332.
• In person at any post office, phone 13 1816 or go to postbillpay.com.au.
• Centrepay if you receive a Centrelink payment.

For the latest payment methods, please refer to your account, visit yvw.com.au/pay or call 1300 304 688.

We’re committed to providing excellent customer service. If you have a complaint, please contact our Customer Care Team at yvw.com.au/enquiry, [email protected] or on 1300 304 688. You can also write to us at Yarra Valley Water, 25-35 Lucknow Street, Mitcham VIC 3132.
We’ll respond promptly to your complaint and do our best to resolve the problem to your satisfaction. Our reply will give the reasons for our decision.

If you aren’t satisfied with the reply, you can have the complaint reassessed. You also have the right to seek external resolution of a problem that can’t be satisfactorily resolved by other means. You can contact the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria on 1800 500 509, at ewov.com.au or by mail to EWOV, Reply Paid 469, Melbourne VIC 8060.

For information on our complaints and disputes handling process, please visit yvw.com.au/feedback.

We recognise that your privacy is of great importance and we’re committed to protecting your personal information. We collect personal and water use information for the purpose of providing water and sewerage related services. We must keep your personal and water use information confidential and comply with binding privacy laws such as the Information Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.

To view our Privacy Policy visit yvw.com.au/privacy.

Enquiries

1300 304 688

Faults & emergencies

13 27 62 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)

Free translating & interpreting service

Arabic العربية

1300 914 361
http://www.yvw.com.au/online/Arabic 

Cantonese 廣東話

1300 921 362
http://www.yvw.com.au/online/cantonese 

Greek Eλληνικά

1300 931 364
http://www.yvw.com.au/online/greek 

Mandarin 普通话

1300 927 363
http://www.yvw.com.au/online/mandarin 

Other languages

For all other languages please call 03 9046 4173 (local call cost in Australia) 8:30 am - 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Email [email protected]

25-35 Lucknow Street Mitcham VIC 3132
ABN 93 066 902 501
yvw.com.au