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 achieved 100% compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Regulations (2015) and have maintained this result over the past 5 years, while continuing to improve the quality of our drinking water.

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 set requirements for how water quality is tested and reported, and include standards for 3 key measures:

• Escherichia coli bacteria (E.coli) – bacteria commonly found in the intestines of humans and animals, used as an indicator of possible contamination.
• Trihalomethanes (THM) – a disinfection by-product that forms when natural organic matter in the water reacts with chlorine.
• Turbidity – 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 supplied to customers, a result outside these standards is considered a failure of the safe drinking water regulations. In addition to these 3 measures, we must also comply with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, which provide additional measures to assess drinking water quality. We continue to review and implement our Drinking Water Quality Risk Management Plan to ensure the water we supply is safe and high quality.   

Over the past 12 months, we have:  

• Collected and tested 7,100 water samples and monitored and tested the water from 1,200 randomly selected customer taps across 34 water quality zones – achieving 100% compliance. 
• Completed inspections and maintenance of 13 water storage tanks and conducted major works on 4 tanks.  
• Cleaned 607km of water mains to remove sediment that can cause customer complaints.  
• Upgraded and commissioned one chlorinator and modified 5 chlorinators across our drinking water network, with further upgrades planned to modify 10 chlorinators and replace 7 chlorinators next year.   

All water sample collection and testing is carried out through a National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accredited laboratory. 

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

Updated regulations 

The Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2025 (the 2025 Regulations) came into effect on 6 July 2025, replacing the 2015 regulations. The updated regulations strengthen risk management and water quality requirements, bringing them into closer alignment with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. There is a phased transition period. While some requirements are already in effect, the full set of obligations will apply from 6 January 2027.   

Our performance for 2025–26 continues to be assessed against the 2015 regulations, in line with the commitments made in our 2023-28 Price Submission. This ensures performance is measured on a consistent and comparable basis over time. We are progressing work to meet the new requirements ahead of full implementation. We will review this measure as part of developing our next price submission, to align with the updated regulatory framework.

Measure: Customers who agree we provide great drinking water

Target: 91%

Result: 82% - not achieved

Customers want their water to be safe and ‘taste good’. We measure satisfaction with our water by asking customers if they agree we provide ‘great drinking water’. This helps us understand community perceptions and identify where improvements or further engagement may be needed. 

Each quarter, we survey a representative sample of customers across our service area. This provides confidence that results reflect the experiences of the broader community. The taste, colour and smell of water can be influenced by a range of factors, including burst water pipes, treatment processes, changes in water sources, and maintenance activities such as cleaning water mains and tanks.  

Customer perceptions of drinking water are also shaped by individual preferences and prior experiences. For example, research shows that some customers may prefer filtered or boiled water based on cultural practices or past experiences, irrespective of the water quality. As a result, this measure reflects both the quality of the water we supply and how it is experienced and perceived by customers.  

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 2025-26, 82% of customers agree that we provide great drinking water.

Customers who don’t agree that we provide great drinking water, commonly tell us they:

• don’t drink tap water (prefer to drink other beverages)
• don’t like the taste, smell or colour of the water
• 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’.

To better understand sentiment among customers who actually drink tap water, we introduced shadow measures focused on this group.

Shadow measure results for 2025-26 show that we did meet our target among the 67% of customers that choose to drink our tap water:

• Agreement with ‘great drinking water’ among tap water drinkers only – 92%.

• Percentage of customers who drink tap water – 67%.

What we’ve done

• Reviewed our operations to identify any reasons for the measure decline – no specific events or changes were identified. 
• Increased focus on customer education about the quality and safety of our drinking water to encourage more customers to drink tap water. 
• Delivered a new community engagement and education program, including a custom-built Choose Tap refiller van at festival and events. This has boosted familiarity, engagement and trust in Yarra Valley Water’s drinking water, with a broader range of customers. 
• Engaged with customers through billing messages on water conservation and great tasting tap water, therefore reinforcing the value of water. 
• Attended community outreach events, including ‘Refugee Week’ and ‘Bring your bills day’ in our northern suburbs where water quality perceptions are lower. Customer engagement included water quality, safety and financial support messaging. 
• Used social media to educate and engage with customers on how our water is treated, tested and maintained, to produce ‘great tasting’ tap water. 
• Continued to monitor and respond to water quality complaints – currently tracking positively against our target of 0.36 complaints per 100 customers.  
• Cleaned 607 km and replaced 18 km of water mains to improve water quality. 
• We are bringing water quality investigations back in-house to improve how we support customers. This will allow us to provide more personalised responses and better identify whether issues relate to our network or private plumbing. 

Measure: Customers who experience 3 or more unplanned interruptions

Target: < 7,000 customers

Result: 7,527 customers – not achieved

Customers told us that the most important measure for this outcome is the number of customers who experience 3 or more unplanned interruptions. 

This measure is largely driven by water main failures, which can affect a large number of customers more often. While sewerage interruptions occur less often, they can have a significant impact when they do happen. Performance is influenced by factors such as asset condition and weather.  Hotter and drier conditions during 2025–26 reduced soil moisture and increased pressure on underground pipes, leading to more water main failures and repeat interruptions than expected.

The target for this measure is based on historical performance from 2017-18 to 2021-22. 

In 2025-26:

• About 160,514 customers experienced unplanned water supply interruptions across the year.
• The average unplanned water outage duration for customers was approximately 80 mins.
• For approximately 2,900 customers, it took longer than 5 hours to restore their water supply.

Where we don’t meet our service obligations for individual customers, rebates may apply under our guaranteed service levels, which are set out in our Customer Charter.

What we’ve done

In the past 12 months, we have: 

• Renewed 18.8 km of ageing and poor performing water mains.  
• Renewed 37 km of ageing and poor performing sewerage pipes. 
• Inspected 166 km of sewerage pipes and property connections to identify defects and blockages. 
• Inspected 1,042 property connection sewer branches to check integrity of the pipes. 
• Renewed more than 984 property connection sewer branches impacting customers. 
• Installed, repaired and inspected over 3,867 water valves and hydrants to reduce the number of customers affected by water interruptions. 
• Identified areas with a single water supply source and assessed options to introduce backup supply to reduce customer impacts. 
• Used a risk-based prioritisation model for water main renewals to better identify and replace high-risk assets before they fail. 
• Completed emergency repairs across the network. 

In addition to ongoing programs, we have: 

• Allocated an additional $6 million to accelerate water main renewals in 2025-26. 
• Reviewed all interruption events affecting more than 80 customers to identify improvement measures to minimise future interruptions. 
• Trialled water tanker support to prevent customers experiencing a 3rd interruption. 
• Introduced shut off block criticality analysis in all water hydraulic models to better prioritise critical assets. 

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

Target: < 3,572 customers

Result: 3,300 customers - achieved

This measure focuses on customers who experience repeated interruptions over an extended period and helps us identify areas where there may be an underlying network issue.

Like the previous measure, performance is primarily influenced by water supply interruptions and is sensitive to weather conditions, asset condition and ground movement.

The target is based on a 5-year historical average, excluding earlier data impacted by a change in maintenance providers. 

Achieving this target demonstrates that while overall interruption numbers increased during the year, we continued to focus on reducing the number of customers experiencing ongoing repeat interruptions.

What we’ve done

The actions outlined in the measure above, also support improvement in this measure. 

In addition, we: 

• Investigated all locations where customers have experienced 4 interruptions to identify preventative actions. 
• Trialled water tanker support to prevent a 6th interruption this year for customers who have already experienced 5 interruptions over 3 years. 

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

Target: 91% of customers

Result: 84% of customers – not achieved

Customers told us that satisfaction with how we restore water and sewerage services following an interruption is the most important measure for this outcome. The target of 91% reflects our 5-year average historical performance from 2017-18 to 2021-22.

For customers who experience an interruption, one of the biggest drivers of satisfaction is how quickly services are restored. We survey customers who have recently experienced a planned or unplanned interruption and use their feedback to improve our response, communication and support.

Most customer interactions measured through this survey relate to emergency fault repairs.  During 2025–26, we experienced higher volumes of burst water mains, leaking mains and service line repairs. While we improved planning, resourcing and customer communication with our delivery partners, sustained demand for emergency repairs continued to place pressure on restoration timeframes.

This resulted in longer service interruptions, delays in restoring work sites and lower customer satisfaction than expected (84%).

What we’ve done

• Increased internal resourcing to better support delivery partners during these peak periods.  
• Improved planning for unplanned works to ensure the right resources are available during high-demand periods.  
• Trialled new approaches to improve customer experience, including hydroseeding, QR code surveys to get early notification of poor customer experiences and clearer field signage to keep customers informed. 
• Worked with delivery partners to improve processes and restoration times, including greater use of non-destructive digging to keep customers happier when the works are completed.  
• Introduced a senior-led customer satisfaction improvement plan to coordinate targeted actions. 
• Created a detailed one-on-one customer interview program to gather more effective customer feedback on the communications and customer experience of recent water main renewals.  
• Improved daily performance reports and automated alerts to prioritise and deliver customer experience improvements. 
• Introduced a customer satisfaction governance framework to identify, prioritise and carry out improvement opportunities where we have control. 

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

Target: <4.85% of customers

Result: 3.56% of customers - achieved

Customers told us that responding quickly to water and sewerage issues is one of the most important aspects of service restoration.

Our goal is to restore customers' water and sewerage services as quickly as possible and, where practical, within 4 hours. We have established processes with our maintenance partners to support rapid response and restoration.

The target for this measure is based on our historical performance between 2017–18 and 2021–22.

Despite increased volumes of emergency repairs during 2025–26, we achieved this target, with 96.44% of customers having their interruptions restored within 4 hours.

What we’ve done

The actions outlined above to improve restoration planning, resourcing, customer communication, and field delivery have also supported performance against this measure. 

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

Target: <0.35% of customers

Result: 0.30% of customers - achieved

This measure focuses on customers who experience extended service interruptions. While most interruptions are restored within a few hours, this measure helps ensure we remain focused on minimising the number of customers affected by prolonged outages.

The target for this measure is based on our historical performance between 2017–18 and 2021–22. We achieved this target in 2025–26, with 99.7% of customers having their interruptions restored within 12 hours.

What we’ve done

The actions outlined above to improve restoration planning, resourcing, customer communication, and field delivery have also supported performance against 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 measure customer satisfaction across 4 main touchpoints: 

• Customer Care (our business and residential call centre experience).
• Field Services (planned water and sewer main renewals and maintenance and reactive/emergency water and sewer works). 
• MyAccount (our online customer portal).
• Land Development services. 

These interactions may be planned or unplanned, and each contributes to the overall customer experience. 

Customer satisfaction was slightly below target. This was driven by increased volumes of planned and unplanned works, influenced by hotter, drier conditions that led to more pipe failures and service interruptions.  

We survey customers monthly for our three main interaction types (Customer Care, Field Services and MyAccount) and use their feedback to improve service quality, ease of interaction, problem resolution and how we support customers. The target of 86% was based on our historical performance between 2017-18 and 2021-22. 

What we've done

Over the past 12 months we’ve taken action to improve customer experience across our online services, field operations and customer contact channels.  

Online experience 

• Developed a data-driven improvement strategy and roadmap for MyAccount. 
• Introduced a dedicated product manager to lead ongoing improvements. 
• Improved platform accessibility, registration and navigation. 

Field work experience 

• Introduced a new Customer Liaison Officer pilot to support proactive customer engagement during planned water and sewer renewals works, helping identify and resolve issues early. Insights from this role inform the Asset Services customer satisfaction improvement plan. 
• Held regular workshops with reliability maintenance partners to review customer feedback and identify improvement opportunities. 
• Analysed customer experience during planned maintenance to improve communication and manage expectations on scope and duration. 
• Improved communication for unplanned works, including earlier SMS notifications of service disruptions or reduced water pressure.  

Phone experience 

• Continued delivery of the Customer Care Strategy, focusing on faster issue resolution and improved customer experience. 
• Continued training and assessment across the Customer Care team to strengthen understanding of customer needs and support delivery of a customer-centric culture. 
• Maintained focus on employee engagement, including career development pathways and personal development support, to enable delivery of ‘friendly and professional’ customer service. 

We also established a cross-functional working group to better understand customer feedback, coordinate improvement activities and identify risks to achieving the 86% satisfaction target. 

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

Target: ≥92%​ of customers

Result: 97% of customers – achieved

For this pricing period (2023-28), we’ve added a new measure recognising the importance of supporting customers experiencing financial vulnerability. Through our WaterCare program, we provide tailored financial support to help customers manage their bills. This measure focuses on whether customers feel that support has made a meaningful difference. We survey both current and recently supported customers managed by the WaterCare support team to understand their experience. 

The target of 92% for this measure is based on our historical performance between 2017-18 and 2021-22.  

What we’ve done:

In the past 12 months, we have:  

• Delivered community outreach and marketing campaigns to raise awareness of our WaterCare support program, with a focus on customers eligible for concession discounts.  
• Strengthened partnerships with community organisations supporting vulnerable customers. 
• Worked with Financial Counselling Victoria to increase referrals into our WaterCare program. 
• Improved access to the Utility Relief Grant through automation.  
• Continued to provide tailored hardship support and flexible payment options. 
• Increased awareness and accessibility of support services for customers who experience barriers to our services. 
• Partnered with other organisations to connect customers with broader support services.  
• Ensured customers experiencing hardship are supported before any restriction of water supply. 

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

Target: <7.3%

Result: 9.6% - not achieved

Water loss is measured as the difference between the water we purchase from Melbourne Water and the water we supply to customers, transfer to other water authorities or use for operational purposes.

Some water loss is unavoidable in large water supply networks. However, reducing losses from leaks and bursts remains an important part of improving efficiency and conserving water.

Water losses increased during 2025–26 due to a higher number of bursts and leaks associated with the hot and dry conditions experienced across Melbourne since October 2025. These conditions increased pressure on underground pipes and resulted in more water main failures than expected.

The target for this measure was based on the average performance of each component contributing to water loss over the five-year period leading up to 2021–22. It also accounted for expected reductions from the implementation of the District Metered Area program.

Water loss is influenced by factors such as asset condition, network complexity and weather conditions. Of the water lost from our network:

• 56% was from background or unreported leaks
• 16% was from reported bursts and leaks
• 23% was associated with ageing customer water meters that under-record water use
• 5% was used for operational purposes such as water main cleaning, sewer maintenance and firefighting.

With more than 10,000 kilometres of water mains across our service area, we continue to invest in both leak and anomaly detection, improved prioritisation using data and technology, replacement of customer meters with new digital meters, and asset renewal programs to reduce water loss over time.

What we’ve done

In the past 12 months, we have:  

• Expanded our District Metered Area (DMA) program, to enable early leak detection, to 60% of our network, with a commitment to continuing the DMA program to full network coverage.
• Improved leak detection and prioritisation, focusing on high-volume losses. 
• Trialled new technologies to identify hidden leaks and improve response times. 
• Worked with maintenance partners to reduce response and repair times, including for lower priority leaks. 
• Introduced improved field and hand-held technology to support faster leak identification.  

We also trialled innovative technologies to identify hidden leaks causing water loss, including:  

• Satellite technology to identify high-risk assets for failure in District Metered Areas.  
• Remote sensors as a low-cost option to help locate leaks. 
• Increased use of AI enabled zone scanners to find leaks, and
• Technology that picks-up sound signals from the water column over large distances for non-metallic pipes to predict where we may have leakage.

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

Target: 4.4%

Result: 1.72% - not achieved

This measure reflects our efforts to reduce reliance on drinking water by increasing the use of recycled water where infrastructure is available. We supply Class A recycled water through dedicated third-pipe networks in mandated recycled water areas, including parts of Melbourne’s Northern Growth Corridor and some outer eastern suburbs.  Delivering recycled water requires significant investment in treatment plants and distribution infrastructure, with developers required to connect new homes in these areas to recycled water networks.

Homes in mandated areas are supplied Class A recycled water from our Brushy Creek, Aurora and Wallan treatment plants.  Performance depends on the availability of recycled water, infrastructure capacity, and customer demand in these areas. Where recycled water is unavailable, drinking water is used to maintain continuity of service. 

The target for this measure was based on expected recycled water production and planned infrastructure performance across the 2023–28 period.

Performance was significantly affected by the extended shutdown of both the Aurora and Brushy Creek recycled water plants. While the target allowed for normal operational downtime, these facilities remained offline for longer than anticipated due to safety and remediation works, reducing the amount of recycled water available to customers.

What we’ve done

• Continued remediation works at the Aurora recycled water plant, which has been offline due to safety-related issues, since November 2022. All the remediation work is now complete and Aurora treatment plant is expected to be back online by end of June 2026.

• Continued to address safety-related issues at the Brushy Creek recycled water plant, which has been offline since April 2023 and is expected to return to service in August 2026.

• Operated the Wallan recycled water plant throughout the year, supplying approximately 84% of network demand.

• Progressed plans to increase Wallan's treatment capacity from 2.05 ML per day to 4.1 ML per day. The project is expected to be completed by 2028.

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

Target: 396L

Result: 407L – not achieved

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

We support customers to reduce water use through education, programs and initiatives that promote water-efficient behaviours. 

Performance is influenced by factors such as weather, climate conditions and household behaviour. Hot and dry conditions typically increase water use. The target for this measure was set based on our water demand and residential growth forecasts. 

What we’ve done

In the past 12 months, we have: 

• Launched a new water efficiency campaign, Make Every Drop Count with DEECA and water sector partners across Victoria in February 2026, encouraging everyday water-saving habits at home. 
• Partnered with Melbourne Polytechnic and Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (25-29 March 2026) to promote water-wise gardening. The partnership includes an active presence at the show, and capturing content before, during and after the show to engage with our customers.  
• Delivered a water audit and showerhead pilot, including 1015 home audits, and 532 households exchanging at least 1 showerhead. A university research program is assessing the impact of the showerhead exchange pilot. 
• Continued the Schools Water Efficiency Program (SWEP), saving over 2.61 billion litres of water and an estimated $11.3 million in costs since 2012. 
• Continued our Water Watchers education program, which has delivered 567 incursions across 109 schools in our service area since April 2023. 
• Promoted water efficiency through our continued partnership with Village Cinemas. Water Watchers were featured year-round at Vjunior sessions in Plenty Valley, and also alongside the Lilo and Stitch, Elio and Zootopia 2 movies at all Village cinemas in our service area. 
• Continued digital meters rollout across our service area, with over 50,000 digital water meters now installed. 
• We’ve 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

This measure reflects our work with large water users to improve efficiency and manage demand. It also aligns with our obligations under the Water Act (1989) to report on water conservation programs for high-volume users. 

We work closely with large business customers to develop and maintain water efficiency plans tailored to their operations. We actively target and monitor customers who use between 90-100 megalitres to ensure they also have active water efficiency plans. We also monitor customers approaching the threshold to ensure they are supported early. 

This measure demonstrates the extent to which we are proactively working with businesses to reduce water use and improve efficiency. The target for this measure is set based on our 5-year historical average.  

What we’ve done

• Reviewed and improved water efficiency plan templates. 
• Worked with business customers to review water use and identify efficiency opportunities. 
• Offered eligible business customers Water Efficiency Audits through DEECA-funded WaterSmart campaigns to support analysis of water usage and identify efficiency opportunities.  
• Provided eligible business customers with small onsite water saving improvements (such as fixtures and fittings) and leak detection services following audits. 
• Developed communication materials, including flyers, to promote water efficiency and better water use practices.   
• Maintained regular engagement and reporting with high-use customers (businesses using more than 100 megalitres of water per year). 
• Continued research into innovative water efficiency products for commercial customers.

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

Target: >13Ha

Result: 67Ha– achieved

Customers told us that actively managing land to preserve and restore biodiversity and natural habitats is the most important outcome for this measure. 

This measure helps us meet both legislative responsibilities and customer expectations for protecting biodiversity, wildlife and natural environments.  During the 2023–28 period, we committed to actively managing 47 hectares of land across 14 priority sites to protect and enhance biodiversity and natural habitats. These sites include areas with high remnant biodiversity values, as well as restoration sites with significant potential to improve environmental outcomes, including land associated with our sewage treatment plants.

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

What we’ve done

• Continued delivering biodiversity works across 16 key sites
• Actively managed 25 hectares of high-value remnant biodiversity across 14 sites, including reservoir, tank and treatment plant locations. This included developing tailored management plans, undertaking stakeholder consultation and engaging environmental contractors to deliver works, with preference given to Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung’s Narrap Rangers Unit.  
• Expanded the area managed for conservation at the Aurora Sewage Treatment Plant from 16 hectares to 42 hectares as part of the Wollert Community Farm project. 
• Delivered restoration works at the Wollert Community Farm, including First Peoples-led land management of endangered grasslands as part of our Caring for Country approach. This included cultural burns delivered by Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung’s Narrap Rangers Unit, revegetation works and weed management.  
• Provided funding to Whittlesea Community Connections, our partners at Wollert Community Farm, to support the delivery of ongoing conservation works to Curly Sedge Creek and their nugal biik Rangers Program, partnering with local primary and secondary schools in Caring for Country activities. 
• Undertaken threatened fauna surveys at Wollert Community Farm, confirming the presence of EPBC-listed species Growling Grass Frog and Golden Sun Moth on site. 
• Partnered with government and community organisations, including Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung’s Narrap Rangers Unit and Whittlesea Community Connections, with co-funding support from State and Federal Governments, Melbourne Water and philanthropic donors.

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

Target: < 5,000 kL

Result: 2,128 kL – achieved

This measure tracks 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. 

We prioritise investment and operational responses based on the frequency, volume and location of spills, as well as the environmental and community impact. Addressing capacity constraints in the sewer network is complex and can require significant time and investment. The main causes of sewage spills are:

• Capacity constraints during major storm events (49.7%) 
• Asset failures and blockages (33.3%) 
• Power loss (17.1%)

The target for this measure was developed using historical performance data, adjusted to remove the impacts of exceptional weather events from 2019-20 and 2020-21 and  significant avoidable incidents, thereby reducing the target from 23,000KL to <5,000KL. 

This measure is highly sensitive to external factors, particularly wet weather and storm events. A single significant rainstorm event or asset failure could cause the target to be exceeded. 

What we’ve done

In the past 12 months, we have:  

• Progressed planning and design for our highest risk and largest pipeline, the Darebin Creek North Main. This is a major upgrade program expected to take 7 to 8 years to deliver. We’re working with Melbourne Water to transfer responsibility for design and construction of this asset.   
• Updating Hydraulic Options Assessment (HOA) for our 2nd highest risk sewers, the North Yarra Main will be completed in late July. Construction works for North Yarra Main is expected to be completed by the end of 2029–30. 
• Continued construction of our 3rd highest risk pipeline, the Eley Road sewer branch, with completion expected in the first quarter of 2026–27.  
• In May 2026 we completed a Hydraulic Options Assessment (HOA) for the Rosanna sewer branch to reduce the risk of uncontrolled spills. The functional design is scheduled for completion in early 2027–28 financial year.  
• Completed smoke testing of Healesville Branch Sewer and installed level sensor monitors to investigate inflow and infiltration issues in this area.   
• Continued to work with maintenance partners to support timely reactive maintenance and manage spill risks across the network.   
• Complied with our wastewater spill incident management and reporting standards.   
• Commenced options analysis and risk assessment for stormwater storage at Brushy Creek Sewer Treatment Plant.    
• Commenced investigation work for capacity upgrades at 4 prioritised sewer pump stations to reduce the risk of uncontrolled spills to nearby properties and the environment.   
• Completed investigation into known hydraulic modelling issues and identified 5 sites for further investigation.   
• Implemented a Post Spill Cause Review process to strengthen our response to unplanned wet weather spill events.  
• Completed 39 km of sewer cleaning to maintain network performance.  
• Renewed 37.3 km of ageing and underperforming sewer pipes to improve reliability and reduce failure risk.    
• Inspected 109 km of sewer pipes and 1,133 property connection branches to identify defects and potential blockages.  
• Renewed 1,034 property connection sewer branches impacting customers.  

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

Target: >200 customers

Result: 250 customers – achieved

This measure reflects our program to connect properties currently using septic systems to the sewer network, improving environmental outcomes and reducing risks to waterways and public health. 

Many properties in Melbourne’s outer areas were developed before sewer infrastructure was available and still rely on onsite wastewater systems such as septic tanks, which can fail or perform poorly over time. 

We deliver an ongoing capital program to expand the sewer network and enable connections, with customers choosing when to connect once services are available. 

Performance is influenced by the timing of infrastructure delivery and customer uptake. The target of 200 connections for this measure was set based on the planned investment program for the 2023-28 period and the historical connection rate. 

What we’ve done

In the past 12 months, we have:  

• Continued delivery of our capital program to provide sewerage services in areas where customers rely on septic systems, with customers able to choose to connect. 
• Progressed the Community Sewerage Program, which is working towards enabling approximately 3,000 new connections across 2023–28. 
• Made new sewerage services available to more than 245 properties in 2025–26, including in Lilydale, Kallista and Lower Plenty. 
• Progressed construction works in Olinda and Yarrambat, which will enable more than 550 additional properties to connect in 2026 once works are complete. 
• Closed the Monbulk pop-up shop      as current works in the Dandenong Ranges are nearing completion and no further projects are planned in this area in the near term. 
• Continued to review and improve customer service approaches to support customers through the connection process. 
• Planned and prepared for construction to commence in 2026 in Park Orchards, Diamond Creek, Wattle Glen and Hurstbridge, as well as smaller areas in Templestowe, Warranwood and Research.

Measure: Percentage of energy requirements met from renewables

Target: 100%

Result: 100% - achieved

This measure reflects our progress in reducing emissions by increasing the proportion of renewable energy used across our operations. 

We generate renewable energy through our own infrastructure and purchase large-scale generation certificates to ensure the electricity we consume from the grid is renewable. This measure supports our commitment under the Statement of Obligations (Emissions Reduction) and our transition to 100% renewable electricity. 

We have completed our transition to 100% renewable electricity and will only consume 100% renewable electricity from 1 July 2025 onwards.  

What we’ve done

In the past 12 months, we have: 

• Delivered and commissioned a new aeration system at Brushy Creek Treatment Plant, our largest electricity consuming site. This upgrade has reduced electricity consumption at this site by more than 20%.  
• Commissioned the renewable gas generation unit at our 2nd waste-to-energy facility at our Lilydale Treatment Plant, our 2nd largest electricity-consuming site. We are finalising the grid connection to enable this facility to generate significant amounts of renewable electricity. 
• Received approval for the construction of our largest solar generating facility at our largest water pumping station, our 3rd largest electricity consuming site. This will provide approximately one 3rd of the electricity we consume at this site and reduce operating costs. 
• Taken advantage of historically low market prices for grid-supplied renewable electricity by procuring low-cost Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) to meet our targets. Future renewable electricity projects will be assessed based on efficiency and cost, while continuing to consider opportunities where on-site generation is more cost-effective than grid supply.