The pilot study will involve approximately 2500 households over two years.

Select Yarra Valley Water customers residing in select areas are invited to join the pilot study. These customers must have previously registered their email address with Yarra Valley Water and are randomly selected.

You must own the property to be eligible for the pilot study. If you are interested in other ways to save water, you can find more information at yvw.com.au/help-advice/saving-water. 

Yarra Valley Water has engaged New Plumbing Solutions (NPS) to deliver this initiative.

Established in 2009, NPS provides high quality, safety-first plumbing maintenance. NPS are committed to providing the most experienced and competent field personnel on the job and ensuring the highest quality customer experience.

A fully licensed NPS plumber will conduct the water audit and shower head replacement. The NPS plumber will carry Yarra Valley Water contractor cards and will be able to produce these on request.  

There is no cost involved for the water audit or the shower head product and installation. The plumber will undertake the water audit, make water efficiency recommendations and supply and install your new water efficient shower head, completely free of charge.  

The plumber will assess your bathroom, toilet, kitchen, laundry and outdoor taps or water tanks. They will conduct a meter leak test, measure the flow rates and provide recommendations for water efficiencies in your home.

They will also replace up to 4 inefficient shower heads.

We encourage you to walk around your home with the plumber. Past participants have found the experience helpful in understanding the efficiency of their plumbing and learning from the plumber’s experience.

Different services will require different lengths of time to complete. Smaller or newer properties with modern fittings may take as little as 15 minutes, while an older home with multiple shower heads to replace will take a bit longer. As an indicator, we recommend you allow one hour for your appointment.

Should you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment, please call NPS on 1300 994 559 and select Option 2 at least four hours before the scheduled appointment time. For appointments scheduled before 11 am, please advise NPS the previous business day.

Fixtures, fittings, and appliances get better every year, and we find that newer homes are more efficient. While available to any customer invited to participate, the program will be of the most benefit to those with an older home.

If you are interested in other ways to save water, you can find more information at yvw.com.au/help-advice/saving-water

Customers with older homes have found the program particularly beneficial as older homes typically have fixtures and fittings that are less efficient, and a water audit can reveal opportunities to make water savings.

A new shower head can make a marked difference to your water use, and a water audit will help identify areas where you could further improve your water-efficiency.

If you live in a unit, flat or apartment, there is less plumbing to inspect, so the water audit will typically take 10-15 minutes. If you have older fixtures and fittings, the shower head exchange won’t take long and is the best way to reduce your water use and save money on your energy bills.

This program has the potential to provide annual water savings of up to 20 kilolitres per household, saving up to $150 per year across water and energy bills.

Plus, each replacement shower head has a recommended retail price of $120 or more, and installation is free.

Some shower heads flow at a rate of up to 11 litres per minute whereas a WELs 5-star rated shower head uses just 6 litres per minute. In an average household, showers account for up to 30% of household water usage so installing a water efficient shower head that uses less water per minute, can make the biggest impact on water and energy bills through lower energy for heating water for the shower.

We are proud to offer quality replacement showerheads. We have carefully selected our products from retail brands including Caroma, Methven and Phoenix. All products are WELs rated, have a high-quality chrome finish, and retail at $120 or more.

This fact sheet provides more information about our selection of products.

Replacement shower heads are only available in a chrome finish and must be a like-for-like replacement with respect to the fitting.

We have selected retail brand, 5-star WELs rated shower head products for this program.

This fact sheet provides more information about the shower head products on offer. Each shower head will be in a chrome finish and comes with a minimum 5-year warranty.

NPS will carry a selection of shower heads to choose from on the day of your appointment. Depending on the type of shower fitting that you currently have and stock availability, you may have a choice between two products for your shower head replacement.

Water efficient shower heads help reduce the flow rate so it may take a few showers to adjust to your new shower head. While it may feel a bit different, you can expect consistent temperature and good water pressure so there should be a minimal impact to your shower experience.  

The plumber will replace your current shower head with a brand new, like-for-like water efficient chrome shower head.

The plumber will fit your new chrome shower head to match the fitting style in your shower. For example, if your shower has an overhead shower rose fitting, your replacement shower head will be an overhead shower rose fitting.

Unfortunately, we are unable to fit a different fitting style to the existing shower.

The shower head products offered as part of this program are only available in a chrome finish. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer other finishes or colours.

If you want to reduce your water usage and have a specific finish for your shower tapware, we encourage you to explore the wide range of water-saving products available on the market that you may like to buy and install at your own expense.

Each shower head product has been selected for quality and is covered by a manufacturer’s warranty. For information regarding the warranty period for your new shower head, please refer to the link for the manufacturers website listed on this fact sheet.

Your old shower head will be removed and disposed of thoughtfully.

As part of the water audit, the plumber will conduct a meter leak test, assess flow rates, and provide recommendations for water efficiencies. If you have an existing leak, we recommend you contact your local plumber to investigate.

Following your appointment, NPS will email you a copy of your water audit for your records. You may also be invited to participate in a short survey so that we can better understand your experience to make the program the best it can be.