Measure: Compliance with Safe Drinking Water Regulations (2015)

Target: 100%

Result: 100% - achieved 

Customers told us that meeting safe drinking water regulations ’ is the most important measure for this outcome.

We must report to the Department of Health if any water does not meet the standards in the Safe Drinking Water Regulations (2015) or if it contains any substance that may pose a risk to human health. 

These regulations cover the way water quality tests are conducted and reported, and specify targets for the following 3 water quality parameters:

• Escherichia coli bacteria (E.coli) – generally found in the intestines of humans, birds and animals. E.coli is an indicator for potential contamination in the water supply.
• Trihalomethanes (THM) – a disinfection by-product that forms when natural organic matter in the water reacts with chlorine.
• Turbidity – turbidity is a measure of water clarity. It describes the amount of light scattered or blocked by suspended particles in a water sample. Clear water has low turbidity and cloudy or murky water has a higher turbidity.

Unless we can demonstrate a test result is not representative of the water supply to customers, a result outside these parameters is considered a failure of the safe drinking water regulations. In addition to these 3 parameters, we must comply with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, which provide additional measures to assess drinking water quality.

We’ve achieved 100% compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Regulations (2015) over the past 5 years and we’re always working to improve the quality of water we supply. 

What we’ve done

• Used a comprehensive risk-based water quality monitoring program to ensure the water we supply was high quality, safe and pleasant to drink.
• Used a National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accredited laboratory to collect and analyse water samples from our water supply system. This laboratory collected and tested over 7,000 water samples this year, and we monitored and tested the water from over 1,200 randomly selected customer taps in 34 different water quality zones – achieving 100% compliance.
• Actioned and closed 3 opportunities for improvements related to consolidating our documentation and documenting our good practices identified in the 2023 Department of Health audit of our Drinking Water Risk Management Plan.
• Conducted routine inspections and maintenance of 12 water storage tanks and conducted major works on 3 tanks.
• Cleaned approximately 1,200 km of water mains, removing natural sediment that can cause complaints.
• Upgraded/commissioned 13 chlorinators across our drinking water network, with planning work underway to complete another 14 chlorinators next year.
• Continued our trial to assess the performance of 5 different types of online water quality monitoring sensors, with planning work underway to install 30 of the preferred devices next year.   

We regularly report on water quality and more information can be found here.

Measure: Customers who agree we provide great drinking water

Target: 91%

Result: 81% - not achieved

Customers want their water to be safe and ‘taste good’.  We measure taste by asking customers if they agree that we provide ‘great drinking water’. This helps us to monitor the quality of our water and understand customer perceptions around drinking water. We have about 2 million customers in our service area. Each month we survey a range of customers from across our service area to measure their satisfaction with their drinking water. We survey a statistically valid sample of our customer base which provides confidence in views across the wider community. 

The taste of water can be influenced by many factors, including burst water pipes, water treatment, and changes in the source of water supply. Taste is also subjective – what’s great to some may not be to others.

We don’t expect everyone to always be satisfied with their drinking water. We set the target at 91% for the 5-year price period based on our 5-year historical average performance from 2017-18 to 2021-22. This performance ranged between 88% and 92%, with an average of 91% of customers agreeing we provide great drinking water. However for 2024-25, 81% of customers agree that we provide great drinking water.

Generally, people who don’t agree that we provide great drinking water, do so because they:

• don’t drink tap water (prefer to drink other beverages)
• don’t like the taste, smell or colour
• don’t like that water is treated or trust that it is safe
• prefer to boil water due to health or cultural reasons
• don’t believe that tap water could ever be great.

What we’ve done

• Reviewed our operations to identify reasons for the decline.
• Identified it there were any specific events or major changes outside usual operations to explain the change.
• Undertaken customer research to better understand why we’re seeing a decline. The research discovered a range of possible explanations including cultural influences, experiences with water faults, preferences for other drinks and general understanding of water quality and safety. A review of research across the water industry found similar trends.
• While we have measured a 5% decline from 2023-24 in perceptions of great drinking water, customers’ overall satisfaction with water quality remains steady at 91%. We’re currently working on options to address this, which is likely to include expanding our education program with a focus on helping build community understanding on treatment processes and water quality.
• Included a flyer with residential bills during the January to March billing quarter, providing information regarding water treatment, quality and safety. This information was sent to more than 830,000 customers.
• Attended Monash University's O-Week, the Craigieburn Festival, Preston Market and Whittlesea Community Festival during February and March 2025, where we distributed more than 950L of our chilled tap water to more than 5,000 community members. Our goal was to engage the community to build confidence in the quality and safety of drinking water

Measure: Customers who experience 3 or more unplanned interruptions

Target: < 7,000 customers

Result: 7,916 customers – not achieved

Customers told us that the most important measure for this outcome is how many experience 3 or more unplanned interruptions. 

This measure mainly relates to water supply interruptions, which affect far more customers  than sewerage network disruptions. That’s why most of our improvement initiatives focus on reducing water supply disruptions.

While repeat sewer events are less common, they can have a bigger impact on customers. That’s why we continue to focus on reducing and eliminating high-impact repeat sewer interruptions.

Performance on this measure is heavily influenced by weather. Hotter than average conditions and a sharp drop in soil moisture led to more pipe failures than usual, resulting in a higher number of repeat interruptions for customers. The target for this measure is based on the 5-year average from 2017-18 to 2021-22. We report our performance each year to the Essential Services Commission on a range of key performance indicators including customer interruptions.

In 2024-25:

• About 274,000 customers experienced planned and unplanned water supply interruptions across the year.
• The average water outage duration for customers was approximately 104 mins for unplanned interruptions and 149 minutes for planned interruptions.
• For approximately 2,500 customers, it took longer than 5 hours to restore their water supply.

For customers who are individually affected where we don’t meet our service obligations, we provide customer rebates as part of our guaranteed service levels set out in our customer charter. You can find more information about these rebates on our website: https://www.yvw.com.au/about-us/customer-charter 

What we’ve done

• Renewed 21.5 km of aging and poor performing water mains.
• Renewed 37 km of aging and poor performing sewerage pipes.
• Inspected 165 km of sewerage pipes to assess their condition and identify potential blockages.
• Inspected 1,042 property connection sewer branches to check the integrity of the pipes.
• Renewed more than 984 property connection sewer branches that impacted customers.
• Installed over 66 water valves to reduce the potential number of customers having their water interrupted.
• Rectified over 200 valves and hydrants to reduce the potential number of customers having their water interrupted.
• Confirmed the location of over 215 valves and hydrants that had been buried or moved, to reduce the potential number of customers having their water interrupted.
• Identified areas with a single source of water supply that were suitable for introducing a backup source of supply to reduce customer impacts.
• Implemented a risk-based prioritisation model for water main renewals to improve the identification and replacement of high-risk assets before they fail.

Measure: Customers who experienced 5 or more unplanned interruptions in the past 3 years and any interruptions this year

Target: < 3,572 customers

Result: 3,115 customers - achieved

This measure is aimed at effectively resolving systemic issues to ensure customers don’t continue to experience interruptions.

Consistent with the previous measure, this measure is also largely focused on water supply interruptions which affect more customers than sewerage issues. This measure, however, focuses on customers who experience numerous interruptions to their water and sewerage services over a 3-year period. This highlights that there may be an underlying issue causing repeat interruptions. 

Performance for this measure is also sensitive to weather conditions as rainfall and soil conditions broadly impact water main failures, as the soil can move causing pipes to break. We’re currently experiencing dry and warm weather following 4 consecutive years of above average rainfall.

The target for this measure has been set to reflect the 4-year average from 2017-18 to 2021-22 to remove unreliable data during 2015-17, associated with the transition of maintenance service providers.

What we’ve done

The actions listed above for the measure ‘customers who experience 3 or more unplanned interruptions’ are also relevant to this m

Measure: Customers’ satisfaction with the restoration of their services (planned and unplanned interruptions)

Target: 91% of customers

Result: 88% of customers – not achieved

Customers told us that satisfaction with how we restore their water and sewerage  services - whether planned or unplanned –  is the most important measure for this outcome. For customers who’ve experienced water issues in the past year, the biggest driver of satisfaction is how  quickly we respond.

Each month we survey a sample of customers who’ve recently been affected by water or sewer works.

These surveys help us understand satisfaction with fault calls, emergency field works, water and sewer maintenance and scheduled maintenance. We also use the results to find ways to improve customer experience. This includes how we resolve issues, the process to restore water and sewerage services, and how we communicate with and support customers. Most of these customer interactions relate to the restoration of their services from emergency fault repairs. Satisfaction with this part of our service dropped part of our service dropped over summer when we experienced higher volumes of burst water mains, leaking water mains and service line repairs.

The target for this measure is based on our 5-year average performance from 2017-18 to 2021-22.

What we’ve done

• Trialled the redistribution of work from our emergency maintenance partner to a secondary contractor to allow us to close out works sooner in busy periods.
• Continued to work closely with our maintenance contractors and other delivery partners, to review field processes and practices to find innovative ways to restore water or sewerage services more quickly.
• Implemented daily performance monitoring reports and automated alerts to identify performance trends and allow for speedy intervention when required.
• Held regular workshops with our reliability maintenance partners to review customer satisfaction results and verbatims ensuring a consistent understanding of dissatisfaction drivers. We also workshopped improvement opportunities for implementation in the field.
• Recruited a community and engagement advisor to support in the trial and implementation of improvement initiatives identified through our customer satisfaction workshops. These initiatives include improved communications materials, the design and rollout of additional field signage and a review and revamp of our reinstatement standards. 

Measure: Customers whose water or sewerage service wasn’t restored within 4 hours

Target: 4.85% of customers

Result: 3.30% of customers - achieved

For customers who experienced an interruption to their service in the past 12 months, the most important factor was to ‘react quickly to water and sewerage issues’.

Our goal is to turn customers’ water and sewerage services back on as quickly as possible, and we aim to do this within 4 hours. We have well established processes with our maintenance partners to support this. 

The target for this measure is based on our 5-year average performance from 2017-18 to 2021-22.

What we’ve done

The actions we’ve listed above for the measure ‘customer satisfaction of the restoration of their services (planned and unplanned interruptions)’ are all relevant to this measure.

• Refined our escalation plan for unplanned works to ensure we have optimal resourcing in place during busy periods. This ensures our customers experience prompt repair times.
• Continued to work closely with our maintenance contractors and other delivery partners, to review field processes and practices to find innovative ways to restore water or sewerage services more quickly.
• Implemented a suite of daily performance monitoring reports and automated alerts to identify performance trends and allow for speedy intervention when required.

Measure: Customers whose water or sewerage service wasn’t restored within 12 hours

Target: 0.35% of customers

Result: 0.26% of customers - achieved

This measure focuses on customers who’ve had extended service outages.

The target for this measure is based on our 5-year average performance from 2017-18 to 2021-22

What we’ve done

The actions we’ve listed above for the measure ‘customer satisfaction of the restoration of their services (planned and unplanned interruptions)’ are also relevant to this measure.

Measure: Customers' satisfaction with their most recent interaction with us

Target: 86% of customers

Result: 85% of customers – not achieved

Customers told us that satisfaction with their most recent interaction with us’ is the most important measure for this outcome.

We monitor customer satisfaction across a range of services we provide. Monitoring is done via a survey of customers who had a service interaction with us. Customers provide an overall rating of satisfaction and feedback on aspects that matter to them (including professionalism of crews and friendliness of call centre staff). In addition, we monitor other key drivers of their interaction experience including:

• Effort – did we make more effort than the customer?
• Resolution – was the customer query or issue resolved?
• Empathy– did staff show care towards customers?

The target for this measure was based on our 5-year historical performance from 2017-18 to 2021-22. 

What we’ve done

• Launched our new My Account Portal  in July 2024, with further enhancements made over the financial year.
• Investigated areas of lower satisfaction with customers who interacted with us across our planned and unplanned asset works. We’re using customer insights to identify actions that our contract partners can take to address the areas of lower satisfaction. This includes working with our field partners to improve communications (so customers know when to expect works) and restoration of sites once works have been completed.
• Worked on improving ‘resolution’ across our phone interactions in Customer Care, while further investigating the drivers of satisfaction for our business customers to identify how we can uplift performance for approximately 62,000 business customers.

Measure: Customers, who accessed our support services, believe Yarra Valley Water helped them with their bills

Target: 92% of customers

Result: 94% of customers - achieved

Our WaterCare support team offers tailored financial support services to customers experiencing hardship. We aim to make sure that everyone accessing WaterCare is satisfied with the support, and most importantly, that we’ve helped them pay their bill. 

The target for this measure is based on our 5-year average performance from 2017-18 to 2021-22.

What we’ve done:

• provided hardship and vulnerability programs for customers who were unable to pay
• Improved awareness and access to services and programs for customers who experienced barriers to our services.
• Partnered with others to ensure customers could access support services more broadly.
• Protected customers who might not have capacity to pay and not restrict water supply without first understanding their ability to pay.
• Provided customers with a variety of payment options that suited their circumstances.
• Continued community outreach events, which involved marketing campaigns for our WaterCare support program, with a focus on customers eligible for concession discounts. We also connected with customers through community events and pop-up stalls. We’ve strengthened our partnership with community organisations that focus on supporting vulnerable customers.
• Met with Financial Counselling Victoria to ensure their members were aware of our WaterCare program and how they could refer their clients into the program.

Measure: Water lost from Yarra Valley Water's supply system

Target: 7.5%

Result: 10.4% - not achieved

Water lost from our water supply system (such as through leaks and bursts) is measured as the difference between the water we purchase from Melbourne Water, and the water we bill our customers for, or transfer to other water authorities. Water lost from leaks and bursts typically flows into nearby drains, waterways or the groundwater table. It is not feasible to collect and reuse this water – our focus is on minimising any losses through fast identification and rectification of the issue. We continued to see higher numbers of bursts over the summer months, with hot and dry weather conditions experienced since October. Most of these bursts and leaks were considered lower priorities, however, we also saw an increasing trend in higher priority bursts.

The target for this measure is based on the average of the previous 5-year period for each component contributing to water loss, and an allowance for expected reductions from the implementation of the District Metered Area program. The 5-year period looks backwards from the 2021-22 financial year, the last financial year before we submitted our price submission. The average water loss from all categories over the past 5 years was 8.7%, with a range between 7.5% and 10.8%. There will always be some water lost in our water network, which is common for large scale water supply networks throughout the world. The reasons for the difference between the amount we purchase and the amount we sell are:

• 55% of our losses are through background or unreported bursts and leaks, e.g. from an underground pipe with a crack in it and the water does not rise to the surface. This is the water loss targeted by the District Metered Area and Active Leak Detection programs.
• 20% of our losses are through reported bursts and leaks.
• 20% of our losses are from aging customer meters which record a slightly lower usage than the actual volume used by the customer.
• 5% is due to other water use such as cleaning water mains to maintaining water quality standards, unblocking sewers and for firefighting.

We aim to proactively identify and repair bursts and leaks as they occur and before they become more significant. To reduce the likelihood of bursts or leaks we aim to renew the most vulnerable assets in our network. As we have more than 10,000km of water mains, we maximise the mains renewal program in conjunction with the leakage programs to reduce overall water loss through our extensive network.

What we’ve done

• Continued to implement our District Metered Area (DMA) program, currently covering 59% of our network by pipe length.
• Developed monitoring of 50 new DMAs in our monitoring systems.
• Continued to work with our maintenance contractors to reduce rectification times of lower priority leaks.
• Continued to source the latest technology for our field team to enable faster location of underground leaks once on site.

Measure: Recycled water used in areas where it’s available

Target: 4.4%

Result: 1.24% - not achieved

Customers support the supply of alternative, fit for purpose water. We do not supply recycled water for drinking purposes, however, we have mandated Class A recycled water for approximately 100,000 new homes in our service area. Consistent with government policy, we have mandated areas for recycled water in the Northern Growth Corridor, Croydon/Lilydale (Quarry development) and Doncaster Hill. Developers in these areas are required to provide third pipe Class A recycled water to all residential properties. We currently supply homes in mandated areas via three Class A recycled water treatment plants: Brushy Creek, Aurora and Wallan. Each plant services different areas of our network. If we don’t produce enough recycled water to supply the demand of the Class A networks, drinking water is used to ensure continuity of services.

The target for this measure aligns with the timing and scope of recycled water infrastructure investments which will support the increased production and delivery of recycled water to customers. The target is based on past performance of the plants, which allows for some down time for standard operations and some unanticipated breakdowns. This measure represents the volume of recycled water produced as a percentage of the total water demand in areas where recycled water is available. 

The Aurora and Brushy Creek treatment plants have had extended shutdowns since last year, caused by some equipment reaching the end of its operational life earlier than expected.

What we’ve done

•  Started working on a replacement for the existing Aurora treatment plant that will be more reliable as the design combines sewage treatment and recycled water production, as well as increasing supply capacity.
• The Brushy Creek treatment plant rectification works are expected to be completed in early 2026.

We’re also undertaking the following initiatives to uplift our performance. These will have a minor contribution compared to planned major infrastructure projects:  

• Implemented the Community Asset Program. This initiative is similar to an emissions offset program. It will enable an organisation to offset use of drinking water in major projects by funding new assets to increase community access to recycled water.
  • Delivered the Barngeong Reserve project as part of the Recycled Water Community Asset Program. Offsetting 15.5 million litres of drinking water used during the construction of four level crossing removal projects over five years. 

Measure: Average household water use (litres, per property, per day (l/pp/pd)

Target: 398L

Result: 409L – not achieved

Customers told us that ‘average household water use (litres per property per day)​’ is the most important measure for this outcome.

Weather, climate and population growth impacts water usage. Hot and dry weather conditions experienced since October resulted in high customer usage. Population growth was high due to increased migration in line with the short-term forecasts.

The target for this measure was set based on our water demand and residential growth forecasts. 

What we’ve done

• From 1 July 2023 we combined water usage and sewage disposal charges to create a stronger financial incentive to save water. This change was based on customer feedback that the sewage disposal charge was complex and difficult to understand. It was difficult to connect the linkage between the water meter volume and the sewage disposal volume.
• Implemented a water audit and showerhead pilot program, aiming to reach 1,000 properties by the end of the financial year. On average we estimate this program will save each household up to 20,000 litres per year.
• Since April 2024, an additional 16 schools in our service area joined the Schools Water Efficiency Program (SWEP). Since its inception in 2012, 388 schools in our service area have been involved in SWEP, saving more than 2.5 billion litres of water and $10 million in costs.
• Our Water Watchers education program delivered 669 incursions across schools in our service area since April 2024.
• Partnered with Village Cinemas to promote the Water Watchers, which featured alongside the Paw Patrol and Migration movies during the school holidays. The intention is to continue promoting Water Watchers to families during 2025, bringing them to life both inside and outside the classroom.
• Commenced roll-out of digital meters in October 2024 and are on track to complete the next phase of rolling out 25,000 digital water meters to prove the technology and business case before a broader rollout.
• Continued to support long-term water resource planning for Melbourne together with Melbourne Water and other retailers.

Measure: Business customers who use more than 100 megalitres (100 million litres) of water a year, who have an active water efficiency plan

Target: 100%

Result: 100% - achieved

Under the Water Act (1989), we report annually on business customers using more than 100 megalitres a year, and whether they participate in a water conservation program. 

We continuously review our large customers’ 12-month rolling average to ensure that any new customers who use over 100 megalitres are identified and have an active water efficiency plan. ​

We also target and monitor customers who use between 90-100 megalitres and ensure they also have active water efficiency plans. 

The target for this measure has been set based on our 5-year historical average. 

What we’ve done

• Updated water efficiency templates and questionnaires for Business Partnership Managers to engage in discussions on Water Efficiency Management Plans (WEMP).
• Created, reviewed and actioned ongoing monthly reporting on water usage.
• Captured customers’ end-to-end business processes and how water usage impacts that.
• Investigated potential partnerships options with contractors to support the implementation of these plans, such as asset purchasing and installation pricing.
• Explored options around offering a billable leak detection site visit for customers.

Measure: Hectares of land we actively manage to preserve and restore biodiversity and natural habitats

Target: 11Ha

Result: 15.5Ha – achieved

Customers told us that ‘hectares of land we actively manage to preserve and restore biodiversity and natural habitats’ is the most important outcome for this measure. 

This measure will help us meet both legislative responsibilities and customer expectations around environmental protection and protection of endangered species and wildlife. A program of works for 47 hectares of land has been proposed during the 2023-28 price submission period. The land will be managed to achieve protection and enhancement of biodiversity outcomes across 14 key sites. These sites are either considered remnant sites (sites with high remnant biodiversity values) or restoration sites (sites of high strategic restoration value including our sewage treatment plant sites).

The target for this measure is based on the capital and operating investments planned to preserve and restore biodiversity and natural habitats over the period.

What we’ve done

On remnant sites (sites with high remnant biodiversity values) we've: 

• Progressed site investigation and planning work.
• Progressed stakeholder consultation site by site.
• Commenced program development.
• Progressively implemented biodiversity management plans for each site. There are now 11 properties under active contracts for biodiversity management.
• Planted 700 indigenous trees, shrubs and grasses on land we own at Brushy Creek Treatment Plant (Chirnside Park) and Mernda Tank to increase habitat for threatened species.

On the key restoration sites (sites of high strategic restoration value) we’ve:

• Nearly completed construction of the Wollert Community Farm, which commenced interim operations in spring 2024. Interim activities include creek restoration work, planting 4000 trees and commencement of junior indigenous ranger programs.
• Completed detailed design of wetlands for the Upper Yarra Habitat Restoration and commenced earthworks for wetland construction due for completion mid next year

The Wollert Community Farm includes First Nations-led land management of endangered grasslands onsite as part of our caring for Country approach, through partnering with Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung’s Narrap Unit. This included a second cultural burn in the grasslands at Aurora Treatment Plant in December 2024.

We’ve developed a biodiversity framework and business case to improve land management practices on the land we own across the northern and eastern areas of Melbourne. Some of this land retains significant biodiversity value and provides habitat for wildlife, including endangered species.

We’ve commenced a program which will involve targets specific to each site including weed management, revegetation and restoration work.

Measure: Volume of sewage spills that have a material impact to the environment

Target: < 5,000 kL

Result: 4,032kL – achieved

This measure reflects the volume of raw (undiluted) sewer spills reported to the EPA, that come from our sewer network assets. There are over 600 potential spill points caused by over 60 sewer pipe capacity constraints currently modelled in our service area. 

Expanding capacity can be very costly – ranging from $100 million to more than $200 million per upgrade - and can take 5 to 8 years or longer to deliver. We prioritise work to address constraints by considering the volume and frequency of spills, as well as the environmental and social impact of spill locations.

The key drivers resulting in spills are: 

• Insufficient capacity in pipelines and sewer pump stations to manage increased flows due to major storm events (92% of total sewage spills)
• Asset failures due to blockages or loss of power (8% of total sewage spills).

The target for this measure has been set using an adjusted 3-year historical average. Sewer spills attributed to significant weather events from 2019-20 and 2020-21 or deemed to be a significant avoidable incident were removed from the baseline, reducing the target from 23,000KL to <5,000KL. 

This measure is highly sensitive to weather, in particular storm events. A single significant rainstorm event or asset failure could cause the target to be exceeded.​ 

What we’ve done

• Started planning and designed system upgrade works with Melbourne Water on the highest risk and largest pipeline, Darebin Creek North Main. The Darebin Sewer Project is expected to take 7 to 8 years to deliver.
• Started developing the Functional Design Statement of our second highest risk pipeline, North Yarra Main. The sewer upgrade capital work is expected to be delivered by the end of 2027-28. 
• Started construction of our 3rd highest risk pipeline, the Eley Road sewer branch. The project is planned to be completed by the last quarter of 2025-26.
• To mitigate the risk of high-risk uncontrolled spills of the Rosanna sewer branch we are assessing upgrade options to be completed in 2025-26. 
• Completed smoke testing of Healesville Branch Sewer and installed level sensor monitors to investigate inflow and infiltration root cause in this area. 
• Worked with maintenance partners to monitor and ensure ongoing timely reactive maintenance.  
• Completed investigation into known hydraulic modelling issues and identified 9 sites for further investigation. 
• Implemented a process for Post Spill Cause Review Investigations to be used following unpredicted wet weather spills.  
• Renewed 37 km of aging and poor performing sewerage pipes and renewed 984 property connection sewer branches that impacted customers. 
• Cleaned 20.7 km of pipes and 500 gas check maintenance holes.  
• Inspected 166 km of sewerage pipes to assess their condition and identify potential blockages.  
• Inspected 1,042 property connection sewer branches to check the integrity of the pipes.   

Measure: Number of customers who were on septic tanks and are now connected to the sewerage network

Target: >200 customers

Result: 279 customers – achieved

Many homes in Melbourne were built before sewerage infrastructure was available, particularly on the urban fringe. As a result, many homes in outer northern and eastern suburbs use septic tanks to manage their wastewater. Poorly performing septic tank systems can damage local waterways and cause odour and soggy backyards. This can often affect neighbouring properties and potentially pose a risk to public health.

We have an ongoing capital expenditure program that provides sewerage services in these areas where customers are reliant on septic systems for their waste disposal.

The 2 main drivers of this measure are:

• Expanding the sewer network to enable more customers to connect.
• Connecting properties to the sewerage network and decommissioning septic tanks. Customers can choose to connect in their own time and there is typically a 6-month lag between sewer becoming available and sewer being connected.

The target for this measure reflects the timing of proposed investments over the 2023-28 period and the historical connection rate. 

What we’ve done

• Continued expansion of our Community Sewerage Program,  to create new available connections for over 3,000 properties during 2023-28.
• Made new sewerage services available in 2024-25 to more than 450 properties in areas including Kallista and Lower Plenty.
• Progressed construction works in Olinda and Lilydale which  will enable over 700 additional properties to connect in 2025 as the works are finalised.
• Started construction on projects in Park Orchards and Yarrambat in 2025.

Launched consistent statewide connection communications materials, ‘Septic to Sewer’, ensuring all councils and water authorities were aligned with the same messaging. The communication campaign included social media posts, posters and more, all of which could be branded by individual councils and shared with their communities.

Our pop-up shop in Mobulk's main street promotes the opportunity for Dandenong Ranges residents to connect to the sewerage network, allowing local residents to drop in to learn more about the program. They can view a full-size replica of the equipment that will go on their property and speak directly with specialist staff to get the answers they need about how to connect.

We’re also working with local councils, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and the Environmental Protection Authority to educate communities about the benefits of the new sewerage systems to drive more connections. 

Measure: Percentage of energy requirements met from renewables

Target: 95%

Result: 95% - achieved

We know our operations impact the environment through carbon emissions. Our renewable energy targets are consistent with our obligation under the Statement of Obligations (Emissions Reduction) and our proposed investment program. 

As a business we consume electricity both from the grid and generated from our own infrastructure. ​We acquire large-scale generation certificates (LGCs) either through internal production and export of renewable electricity from our generators to the grid, or by purchasing from other external renewable generators in Victoria. We surrender these LGCs to certify that the electricity we consume from the grid is renewable

What we’ve done

• Near completion of a second, larger food waste to energy facility to process food waste and create electricity, which will transform up to 150 tonnes of waste a day into 33,000 kWh of renewable energy – around 35% of our energy requirements.

Continued our path of switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy. These initiatives included:

• Purchasing more electric vehicles and plug in hybrid electric vehicles as we accelerate our transition towards a zero-emission fleet by 2030.
• Upgrading our hot water systems from gas boilers to energy efficient heat pumps.
• Planning an upgrade to our office heating system over summer 2026-27.
• Installing electric vehicle charging infrastructure to support our zero emissions vehicles, mith more to come.
• Commissioning a Demand Management System at our Mitcham head office to optimise the efficient use of electricity.
• Sourcing 20% of our renewable energy requirements from a large-scale solar farm in north-west Victoria that’s facilitated by Zero Emissions Water Ltd.
• Moving to the detailed design stage to install ground-mounted solar systems at 3 high energy consuming water network sites.