Indigenous History

South central Victoria is home to the Kulin nation – an alliance of five Aboriginal tribes. Collectively, their territory extends...

Our Water Supply Story

European settler John Batman occupies the banks of the Yarra River. As settlement grows, so does the demand for a reliable water...

Our Water Supply Story

With the discovery of gold around this time Melbourne's population booms and so does its thirst for water. Construction begins on...

Our Water Supply Story

Yan Yean historic...

Our Water Supply Story

Let Gilbert take you on...

Our Water Supply Story

In order to provide the best quality water for this growing city, the Government moves to protect the Yarra River at its source....

Our Water Supply Story

Our water is...

Our Water Supply Story

As the city grows to half a million people, even more water is needed. This time we go back to the source, near Healesville, to...

Our Water Supply Story

Compare then to...

Our Water Supply Story

The city keeps growing. Something has to be done. So the Government forms the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) to...

Our Water Supply Story

A giant global recession hits around this time known as the Great Depression. Our Government undertakes a major public works...

Our Water Supply Story

Maroondah...

Our Water Supply Story

After delays caused by World War II, construction resumes on the Upper Yarra Reservoir and on a major scheme of pipelines and...

Our Water Supply Story

Boom times in the 1950s – along with the Government's post-war decision to increase our population through immigration – creates...

Our Water Supply Story

A MMBW report predicts Melbourne's population will rise to 5 million by the year 2000 and it outlines planned works for the next...

Our Water Supply Story

Planning for Melbourne's...

Our Water Supply Story

Planning for Melbourne's...

Our Water Supply Story

To meet growing demand in the Western suburbs, particularly during summer, a reservoir is completed at Greenvale. Greenvale is an...

Our Water Supply Story

Australia recognises the health benefits of water fluoridation. MMBW therefore begins construction on local fluoridation plants...

Our Water Supply Story

Work is completed on the Sugarloaf Reservoir Project, which includes a major pumping station and water treatment plant,...

Our Water Supply Story

How the Winneke Treatment Plant...

Our Water Supply Story

Water supply...

Our Water Supply Story

Concerns around Melbourne's ability to cope with sustained drought conditions leads to the construction of the Thomson Reservoir...

Our Water Supply Story

The Thomson...

Our Water Supply Story

How to build a dam - part...

Our Water Supply Story

How to build a dam - part...

Our Water Supply Story

Rawson...

Our Water Supply Story

Thomson Dam...

Our Water Supply Story

Thomson Dam...

Our Water Supply Story

Reform is required and MMBW is systematically merged with a number of smaller urban water authorities to form Melbourne Water....

Our Water Supply Story

Know your water...

Our Water Supply Story

With Melbourne suffering drought conditions, water restrictions are progressively increased from Stage 1 in 2002 to Stage 3a in...

Our Water Supply Story

The devastating Black Saturday bushfires damage about 30% of Melbourne's water supply catchments in some capacity. Most of this...

Our Water Supply Story

The Millennium...

Our Water Supply Story

Dam storage...

Our Water Supply Story

Water usage...

Our Water Supply Story

The North-South Pipeline (also known as the Sugarloaf Pipeline) – a 70-kilometre pipe that carries water from the Goulburn River...

Our Water Supply Story

The Millennium Drought shows the need for a diversified water supply system. To secure Melbourne's water supplies and cater for a...

Our Water Supply Story

Victorian Desalination...

Our Water Supply Story

Integrated water...

Our Water Supply Story

Melbourne's water supply...

Our Water Supply Story

More than 400 billion litres...

Our Sewerage Story

From 1835 the population of Melbourne grows quickly, first as a hub for rural areas, then as the gold rush leads to the city's...

Our Sewerage Story

Melbourne way back...

Our Sewerage Story

With the discovery of gold, Melbourne becomes one of the richest cities on earth. Soon the population grows to about half a...

Our Sewerage Story

Marvellous...

Our Sewerage Story

By now the city of Melbourne is experiencing a public health and sanitation crisis. A Royal Commission into the situation in 1888...

Our Sewerage Story

The Royal Commission brings about change, with the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) formed to take responsibility...

Our Sewerage Story

Development of Melbourne's Sewerage...

Our Sewerage Story

Construction begins on Melbourne's first sewerage system. A system of pipes, sewers and drains is built – mostly by pick and...

Our Sewerage Story

Spotswood Pumping...

Our Sewerage Story

In what was a huge milestone for the city, the Western Treatment Plant, then known as Werribee Farm, begins operations and the...

Our Sewerage Story

Thunderboxes and chamber...

Our Sewerage Story

Tour the treatment...

Our Sewerage Story

By 1915, the Metropolitan Sewage Farm's permanent workforce grows to 171 employees. From day one a permanent workforce lives at...

Our Sewerage Story

Video -...

Our Sewerage Story

Video - Cocoroc football...

Our Sewerage Story

Video - Cocoroc...

Our Sewerage Story

The village of...

Our Sewerage Story

Melbourne grows eastward, creating the need for a second treatment plant. The Braeside Treatment Plant at Mordialloc begins...

Our Sewerage Story

A new pumping station is built at Brooklyn to keep up with the increase in Melbourne's population. It has eight large pumps and...

Our Sewerage Story

Melbourne's Eastern suburbs continue to grow at a frenetic pace. With the ageing Braeside Eastern Treatment Plant decommissioned,...

Our Sewerage Story

Tour the treatment...

Our Sewerage Story

The Western Treatment Plant is a safe haven for tens of thousands of birds as well as frogs and other native animals. The site...

Our Sewerage Story

Learn more about the different bird species at the Western Treatment...

Our Sewerage Story

Apply for a bird watching permit at the Western Treatment...

Our Sewerage Story

The first modern lagoon is installed at the Western Treatment Plant. At 200 hectares, it is one of the largest in the world. Raw...

Our Sewerage Story

Read about the lagoon...

Our Sewerage Story

The release of a CSIRO report in 1996 on the health of Port Phillip Bay leads to a $160 million upgrade of the sewage treatment...

Our Sewerage Story

Activated Sludge...

Our Sewerage Story

Microscopic...

Our Sewerage Story

Read more about the recent the ongoing environmental benefits being achieved from sewage treatment at the Western Treatment...

Our Sewerage Story

Learn more about the Werribee Irrigation District by visiting Southern Rural Water's...

Our Sewerage Story

Westside water...

Our Sewerage Story

Recycling guidelines...

Our Sewerage Story

As the public demands higher environmental standards and technology improves, the Eastern Treatment Plant is earmarked for an...

Our Sewerage Story

Not all sewage is treated...

Our Sewerage Story

Boags Rocks water...

Our Sewerage Story

Melbourne's sewerage system includes 402 km of underground sewers. If we laid out the sewer pipes, we could reach the South...

Our Sewerage Story

Get the dirt on sewer...

Our Sewerage Story

Help keep sewers...

Our Sewerage Story

Every wondered if sewers get cleaned?...

Our Sewerage Story

Works in your...

Our Sewerage Story

The Eastern Treatment Plant upgrade to advance tertiary treatment is now complete, making it one of the most advanced and...

Our Sewerage Story

The Eastern Treatment...

Our Sewerage Story

Get the dirt on sewer...

Our Sewerage Story

The Western Treatment Plant has changed constantly since it began treating sewage in 1897. The future plans for the site include...

Our Drainage Story

Melbourne's early settlers become aware of the Yarra River's natural flood zone when the river floods on Christmas Eve 1839. With...

Our Drainage Story

As Melbourne's population grows, areas close to the city such as South Melbourne and Richmond begin to develop. Their proximity...

Our Drainage Story

The evolution of...

Our Drainage Story

With the gold rush over, the search for farming land close to Melbourne becomes the focus. Land is made available for farming at...

Our Drainage Story

History of he Carrum Carrum...

Our Drainage Story

Drainage Story of a...

Our Drainage Story

With many warnings and close calls over the years, disaster finally strikes. The riverside suburbs of Collingwood, Richmond,...

Our Drainage Story

Rowing down Toorak...

Our Drainage Story

In an effort to stop the city from repeatedly flooding, the Metropolitan Drainage and Rivers Act is established. This makes...

Our Drainage Story

Extreme storms cause widespread flooding. Port Phillip Bay experiences record high tides. The Yarra River reaches 12 meters above...

Our Drainage Story

In the 1950s, the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) is responsible for town planning as well as drainage, sewage and...

Our Drainage Story

Melbourne's retarding...

Our Drainage Story

Environmental issues become a feature of the late 1960s and early 70s. Newspapers carry images of polluted creeks and drains and...

Our Drainage Story

Flash flooding in the Maribyrnong River, Moonee Ponds Creek and Merri Creek causes havoc. In response to this disaster, the MMBW...

Our Drainage Story

The Drainage of Lands Act of 1975 and other legislative changes strengthen the MMBW's responsibilities for drainage and...

Our Drainage Story

PDF of flood risk...

Our Waterways Story

With our waterways such as rivers, estuaries and wetlands home to many plants and animals, including frogs, platypus and...

Our Waterways Story

Why environmental flows are the...

Our Waterways Story

Monitoring our water...

Our Waterways Story

Wetlands play an important role in the health of our environment by filtering pollutants and providing a sanctuary for plant and...

Our Waterways Story

Melbourne's...

Our Waterways Story

Visit a...

Our Waterways Story

Western Treatment Plant – bird...

Our Waterways Story

What is the Ramsar...

Our Waterways Story

One of Melbourne Water's objectives is to make our waterways more accessible for the public to enjoy. A huge milestone in this...

Our Waterways Story

Yarra gets weekly health...

Our Waterways Story

Yes way to fishway on...

Our Waterways Story

Know your...

Our Waterways Story

Keeping our waterways healthy requires a community-wide response. And so, the Waterwatch program is founded around this time that...

Our Waterways Story

Become a citizen...

Our Waterways Story

It's not easy being...

Our Waterways Story

Help protect the...

Our Waterways Story

Heavy rains flood homes along the Maribyrnong River in 1974, when too much water enters the river from stormwater drains. The...

Our Waterways Story

Learn the dirty truth...

Our Waterways Story

Monitoring our river...

Our Waterways Story

With one eye on the future, the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works is merged with a number of smaller urban water authorities...

Our Waterways Story

Everyone drink the...

Our Waterways Story

Earth's natural water...

Our Waterways Story

Urban water...

Our Waterways Story

The Healthy Bay Initiative – a five-year study into the health of Port Phillip Bay – calls for a reduction in the amount of...

Our Waterways Story

Waterways the way...

Our Waterways Story

Urban water...

Our Waterways Story

More great teaching...

Our Waterways Story

Manmade wetlands to the...

Our Urban Water Story

With one eye on the future, the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works is merged with a number of smaller urban water authorities...

Our Urban Water Story

MCG scores with recycled...

Our Urban Water Story

Explore by foot or by...

Our Urban Water Story

Squeezing water from...

Our Urban Water Story

With drought conditions ravaging Melbourne, water restrictions are progressively increased from Stage 1 in 2002 to Stage 3a in...

Our Urban Water Story

Victorians urged to save...

Our Urban Water Story

The Millennium...

Our Urban Water Story

Where the grass is definitely...

Our Urban Water Story

Kicking goals with recycled...

Our Urban Water Story

The Millennium Drought quickly forces the State Government to rethink its water strategy. In response, it comes up with a...

Our Urban Water Story

Ingenious stormwater harvesting...

Our Urban Water Story

Our Water Our Future...

Our Urban Water Story

Stormwater strategy for...

Our Urban Water Story

With Melbourne's water storages receding every month and our garden city dry withered, the Millennium Drought shows the need for...

Our Urban Water Story

Victorian Desalination...

Our Urban Water Story

AquaSure builds desalination...

Our Urban Water Story

Integrated water...

Our Urban Water Story

Melbourne's water security takes another step in the right direction with the completion of the Victorian Desalination Plant. By...

Our Urban Water Story

Groundwater...

Our Urban Water Story

Managing aquifer...

Our Urban Water Story

2007 Commonwealth Water...

Our Urban Water Story

One of the worst droughts ever recorded finally breaks, with Melbourne's major catchments receiving their highest annual rainfall...

Our Urban Water Story

Lessons learnt from the...

Our Urban Water Story

Recycled water becomes...

Our Urban Water Story

Urban stormwater...

Our Urban Water Story

Stricter rules for new homes is just one of the many outcomes of the Millennium Drought. Rainwater tanks therefore become...

Our Urban Water Story

Saving water at...

Our Urban Water Story

Reusing household greywater...

Our Urban Water Story

Don't waste your...

Our Liveable City

Population growth, affordability pressures and lifestyle choices see more and more apartments spring up around inner city areas....

Our Liveable City

Adapting Melbourne for climate...

Our Liveable City

Concerns around climate change lead to the creation of a Melbourne Water System Strategy, due for release in 2017. The strategy's...

Our Liveable City

Resilient...

Our Liveable City

Community involvement in caring for our waterways, stronger environmental regulation, a more sustainable approach to urban...

Our Liveable City

Mount Waverley stormwater harvesting...

Our Liveable City

Maximizing water management...

Our Liveable City

By the year 2025 an extra 1 billion people are living on planet Earth, taking the world's population to a staggering 8 billion...

Our Liveable City

Cities of the...

Our Liveable City

Half of the world's largest cities experience water shortages as early as 2014, with 2.5 billion people unable to access safe and...

Our Liveable City

The future for recycled...

Our Liveable City

Heatwaves increase in length, frequency and intensity as climate change becomes a reality, gripping the world.

In...

Our Liveable City

Water sensitive urban...

Our Liveable City

Our worst natural...

Our Liveable City

City of Kingston goes...

Our Liveable City

Despite all the challenges climate change and population growth throw at us, by the middle of the century a liveable and...

Our Liveable City

Fly through a city of the...