A well was the main source of water in most villages before the creation of modern water supply systems. People collected water from the well and carried it to their homes in buckets or urns.
Nowadays, in a city like Melbourne, a network of pipes transports drinking water into our homes and other buildings. There are also sewage pipes that carry dirty water to sewage treatment plants, and stormwater drains which carry rainwater from roads into rivers, creeks and bays.
This man-made water cycle is known as the urban water cycle. This is the journey of water, from when it is collected in the catchments to when it is returned to the natural water cycle as treated effluent from sewage treatment plants.
The presence of humans differentiates the urban and the natural water cycle. Humans take water from the natural water cycle for drinking, cooking and recreational purposes.
Melbourne Water manages the urban water cycle in Melbourne.
In Melbourne, the water that comes out of your tap has travelled a long way to get there.
Most of our water comes from uninhabited mountain ash forests high up in the Yarra Ranges to the north-east of Melbourne. These catchments have been closed to the public for more than 100 years, to protect the purity of our drinking water at the source.
Rain falling in the catchments that isn't absorbed into the ground runs into the rivers and reservoirs.
9 major water reservoirs supply Melbourne with water.
When the water has been used in your home, it is sent through a series of pipes to a sewage treatment plant where it is treated, so that it can be safely recycled back to nature.
Melbourne Water manages Melbourne’s sewerage system. The sewerage system is the network of pipes that takes dirty water away from households and businesses to 2 major sewage treatment plants (Eastern and Western Treatment Plants).
Sewage treatment is a complex process where sewage is treated to remove toxic substances. Solids are removed and the remaining water is cleaned for release back into the water cycle.
Once it has been cleaned, most of the water is pumped out to sea. Some of the clean water is recycled and re-used on farms, parks, golf courses and schools.
Melbourne also has a stormwater system, which is designed to collect rainwater running from roads, parks, and the gutters.
The stormwater system directs the rainwater into the city’s rivers, creeks and eventually into the bay, where it re-enters the water cycle.