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Melbourne's water
storages are currently at:

41.9%

breakdown by reservoir

(you can click on each reservoir
for more information)

Thomson: 27.2%

Cardinia: 43.4%

Upper Yarra: 69.9%

Sugarloaf: 84.1%

Silvan: 88.9%

Tarago: 60.5%

Yan Yean: 54.6%

Greenvale: 66.6%

Maroondah: 100.0%

O'Shannassy: 100.0%

rainfall to tap

Melbourne’s water supply system consists of:

The journey from catchment to tap

Collection

A water catchment is an area of land which has been set aside to collect rainwater. Most of Melbourne's water is collected in protected catchment areas in the Yarra Ranges.

Storage

Melbourne's 10 major reservoirs store and hold up to 1,810,500 million litres of water.

View enlarged map

Melbourne's largest reservoir is the Thomson. It can hold 60% of Melbourne's total supply of drinking water.

ReservoirCapacity
(million
litres – ML)
Thomson Reservoir 1,068,000
Cardinia Reservoir 287,000
Upper Yarra Reservoir 200,000
Sugarloaf Reservoir 96,000
Silvan Reservoir 40,000
Tarago Reservoir 37,500
Yan Yean Reservoir 30,000
Greenvale Reservoir 27,000
Maroondah Reservoir 22,000
O'Shannassy Reservoir 3,000
TOTAL 1,810,500

Every time you turn on your tap, the water you use has come from a major reservoir.

Disinfection and treatment

Most of our drinking water does not need a lot of treatment before being piped to us.

However, a small amount of Melbourne's water comes from the Sugarloaf Reservoir which collects water from an open catchment. This catchment area is downstream from towns and farms, which increases the chances of water pollution. Therefore, this water is fully treated at the Winneke Water Treatment Plant.

As water leaves the storage reservoirs or the Winneke Water Treatment Plant, water is disinfected with chlorine and fluoride is added in accordance with the Flouridation Act 1973.

Winneke Water Treatment Plant

Winneke Water Treatment Plant, Christmas Hills

Distribution

Thousands of kilometres of underground pipes carry the water in a web-like network all around Melbourne.

From the major reservoirs, water flows by gravity (downhill) or is pumped through large pipes (distribution mains) to service reservoirs around Melbourne. There are about 60 service reservoirs in Melbourne. Each service reservoir can hold 1 to 2 days worth of water so that there is always a supply of water during peak times.

From the service reservoirs, water flows by gravity through a smaller pipe system to the metropolitan retail water businesses - City West Water, South East Water or Yarra Valley Water. These government owned businesses then pipe the water to homes, schools, businesses and you.

We regularly test the water before it is piped to you. 50,000 water sample tests from 160 sites are completed every year.

Water pressure is carefully managed to make sure that the water pressure you get in your home is just right. If the water pressure is too high, it may damage your water pipes or other plumbing appliances.

More information