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Recycled water

Goals related to recycled water

  • Ensure stringent regulatory obligations are met
  • Develop alternative water resources, including recycled water, that meet our customers’ current and future needs.

Key achievements

  • Contributed 20.9% of the total amount of recycled water supplied in metropolitan Melbourne, exceeding the Victorian Government target of 20% recycled by 2010
  • Provided greater supply flexibility for the recycled water supply to Southern Rural Water for the Werribee Irrigation District with 10,946 million litres supplied during the year
  • Completed construction works to enable recycled water supply to commence at MacKillop College, Werribee and to the Werribee Technology Precinct recycled water scheme
  • Began construction at Melbourne Water’s Hoppers Crossing pumping station to replace with recycled water a 100 million litres of drinking water a year, which is used for pump lubrication and motor cooling
  • Supplied 88 million litres of recycled water to City West Water customers for drought relief via a standpipe at the Western Treatment Plant.

Disappointments

  • Our ability to supply the Werribee Agricultural Group with sufficient recycled water was constrained due to drought-related algal outbreaks, reduced inflows and related water quality infrastructure limitations
  • The Werribee Irrigation District lettuce crop incident highlighted a need for greater understanding of soil and water management
  • Cancellation of a public tender for the use of 35 million litres of recycled water in the west due to lower plant inflows.

Challenges

  • Developing recycled water allocation and treatment options for the Western Treatment Plant to meet competing demands and impacts to quality from natural elements
  • Improving the broader community’s understanding and acceptance of recycled water
  • Reducing and managing salinity levels in recycled water from the Western Treatment Plant
  • Reduced treatment plant inflows due to below average rainfall, water conservation strategies and restrictions creating issues with water quality and recycled water customer quotas
  • Where possible, replacing the use of drinking water in operating Melbourne Water’s assets with alternative water sources, including recycled water.