quick find
Resources Search

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%

sewage and recycling data

  Average daily sewage flow (million litres, ML) Average discharge (million litres, ML)
Eastern Treatment Plant 312 310
Western Treatment Plant 412 221

Eastern Treatment Plant

  • Treats approximately 312 million litres or 40% of Melbourne's sewage every day
  • Serves about 1.5 million people in Melbourne's south-eastern and eastern suburbs
  • In 2007/2008, 310 million litres of treated effluent was discharged at Boags Rocks every day

About 92% of the sewage that flows into the Eastern Treatment Plant each year is from homes and small businesses. The remaining 8% comes from factories.

Sewage at the Eastern Treatment Plant is treated to a secondary standard then disinfected according to the EPA Victoria's licence requirements. The quality of the treated effluent leaving the plant is report annually in our Sustainability Report.

More data is available from our research and monitoring programs at the Eastern Treatment Plant.

Western Treatment Plant

  • Treats approximately 412 million litres or 52% of Melbourne's sewage every day
  • Serves about 1.6 million people in Melbourne's central, northern and western suburbs
  • In 2007/2008, 221 million litres of treated effluent was discharged into Port Phillip Bay every day.

About 56 percent the sewage that flows into the Western Treatment Plant each year is from homes. 32 percent is from factories, while 12 percent is from stormwater infiltration.

The Western Treatment Plant operates under an accredited EPA licence which regulate the quality of the treated effluent discharged into Port Phillip Bay. The quality of the treated effluent leaving the plant is reported annually in our Sustainability Report.

Recycled water use in Melbourne

  • In 2007/2008, 61,984 million litres or 21.5% of the sewage produced at our Western and Eastern Treatment Plants.
  • In the west, 40,848 million litres of sewage was recycled
  • In the east, 21,136 million litres of sewage was recycled
Western Treatment Plant ML (million litres)
Onsite recycling 27,831
Werribee Tourist Precinct 203
Werribee Technology Precinct 106
MacKillop College 31
Drought relief tankers 158
Werribee Irrigation District 12,519
Western Treatment Plant subtotal 40,848
Eastern Treatment Plant ML (million litres)
Onsite recycling 13,255
Eastern Irrigation Scheme 6,577
Customers along the South Eastern Outfall 1,304
Eastern Treatment Plant subtotal 21,136
TOTAL 61,984

Source: 2007/2008 Sustainability Report, Melbourne Water

More information