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Melbourne's water
storages are currently at:

34.5%

breakdown by reservoir

(you can click on each reservoir
for more information)

Thomson: 21.4%

Cardinia: 34.4%

Upper Yarra: 66.0%

Sugarloaf: 60.2%

Silvan: 87.7%

Tarago: 57.6%

Yan Yean: 29.9%

Greenvale: 72.1%

Maroondah: 86.3%

O'Shannassy: 77.0%

teacher guide

Eastern Treatment Plant: Teacher guide

The Eastern Treatment Plant at Bangholme, south-east of Melbourne, was opened in 1975 to serve Melbourne's growing population. It receives and treats most of the sewage produced in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

The Eastern Treatment Plant Explorer provides students with the opportunity to study a system organised around sustainability. It also provides an interesting account of how engineers used basic scientific principles to solve the problems associated with sewage, and to find ways to use treated sewage. This is how a problem turned into a solution.

These notes contain information and resources designed to be used with a tour, whether it is the virtual or an actual tour - of the Eastern Treatment Plant.

Going on an actual tour?

Twenty-eight classroom activities are provided to help you make the most of your visit. These activities can be used before, or after a tour.

For a complete set of activities, download "ETP_Word_all.zip" (Zip, 2.9mb) or "ETP_PDF_all.zip" (Zip, 1.1mb) to your hard drive.

Virtual student challenges

Students can take three different approaches on their virtual tour of the Eastern Treatment Plant:

  • The sewage factory: from sewage to clean water: how sewage is turned into useable water
  • Follow the sludge: how sludge is extracted and reused
  • Electricity from sewage: how electricity is generated from sewage.

Curriculum links