The aqueduct is nearly 100 years old and coming to the end of its service life. The overall system, including open channels and underground pipes, is currently in the planning stages of being retired.

After it’s retired, Melbourne Water will redirect the supply of water to Maroondah Reservoir.  

For over 100 years, the Coranderrk Aqueduct has delivered water for treatment to the Silvan Reservoir, which has then supplied metropolitan Melbourne and beyond. Due to its age, repair and maintenance of the aqueduct past its service life is no longer viable.

Our upcoming investigations will help us understand local water needs, the challenges of extending the network, and possible alternate solutions for future water supply. We know that having access to additional water sources is important, so we’re looking into what can be done. 

Extending the water supply to properties far from our network isn’t always possible, for example to remote and hilly areas. Because of this, many properties in the area have their own water sources, like tanks and rainwater collection. 
As we gather more information, we’ll look into options like pipes, storage tanks, and ways to support rainwater harvesting. We're exploring ways to bring water to more properties in the future.

We only get meter readings once every three months, so we can’t see patterns of daily and weekly use. We need this detailed information to help us understand how much water needs to be delivered to different areas at different times.

The more detailed information we get from residents in the area, the better we can assess what’s possible. 
 

The cost of drinking water depends on several factors: whether you have a sewer connection, how much water you use, and if you are a resident or business customer. Future treated water supplies may be more expensive than current aqueduct water due to the increased costs of treatment and distribution.

For current water rates, please visit yvw.com.au/charges. 

The provision of piped water is nearly always funded by property owners. In new subdivisions, for example, developers pay for the piped water supply and pass this cost onto the property purchaser. The same ‘user pays’ principle applies to properties who decide to obtain water through private mains.
 

The water taken from the Coranderrk aqueduct is untreated water, sometimes called ‘raw’ or ‘bulk’ water. This water supply is not disinfected and is not suitable for drinking or food preparation. The water is untreated and may contain harmful bacteria or other organisms. 

For more information about untreated water, visit https:/www.yvw.com.au/help-advice/untreated-water. 

Melbourne Water manages our region’s ‘bulk’ or ‘wholesale’ water supplies and transports the water through large ‘mains’ pipes and aqueducts, including the Coranderrk Aqueduct. 

This ‘wholesale’ water is then delivered to Melbourne’s water retailers’ networks. As one of these water retailers, Yarra Valley Water then distributes water through its network, and manages the billing for 2 million customers in Melbourne’s north and east. 

In the case of the Coranderrk Aqueduct, Yarra Valley Water handles the billing on behalf of Melbourne Water as we have the metering equipment and systems in place to assist individual customers with fees and charges payments.
 

Melbourne Water is in the early planning stages of the retirement (or ‘decommissioning’) of the Coranderrk aqueduct. At this stage, Melbourne Water will be retiring the aqueduct between 2029 and 2031. 

Melbourne Water is working with local stakeholders, including Yarra Ranges Council, Parks Victoria and Wurundjeri to explore opportunities for the future use of the land.

Under an agreement that permits customers to access the Coranderrk Aqueduct water, the water quality, quantity or continuity is not guaranteed, and the supply can legally be discontinued. 

It also states you should have an available on-site storage tank(s) filled with at least 4 weeks of water to use if the untreated water supply is interrupted. 

More information, including the ‘Untreated Water Customer Supply Agreement’ can be found at yvw.com.au/untreatedwater.

Providing this information is very helpful when we’re looking at where a future water supply might be located. We are only asking large water users or commercial customers for this information.

Only properties that are currently using water from the aqueduct, either directly or through private mains, will be impacted by the discontinued aqueduct water supply. 

Other residents in the area will not be impacted by the aqueduct retirement.

If you have private water mains, and while they are still carrying aqueduct water, you must uphold your responsibility to repair and maintain the water pipes that supply your property, you are not expected to replace them.

We’ve started contacting property owners in the area to ask them for more information about how they use their water and when. 

Using this information, we’ll assess what’s future water supply options are possible and feasible. 

We expect this modelling work to take approximately 12 months.