The Next Stage of the Government’s Water Plan sets out major infrastructure projects to increase Melbourne’s drinking water supplies by 240 billion litres a year by 2011.  The Tarago Reservoir Reconnection was the first of these projects to come online.

To reconnect Tarago Reservoir to Melbourne’s drinking water supply system, Melbourne Water built a new treatment plant. The plant was completed six months ahead of schedule and $3 million under budget.  It was officially opened by the Premier, the Hon John Brumby MP, and the Minister for Water, the Hon Tim Holding MP, on 24 June 2009.

The plant can treat up to 25 billion litres per year, depending on rainfall and inflows. On average, it will deliver Melbourne 15 billion litres of high-quality drinking water per year, assuming a continuation of the recent low inflows. This water will be supplied to around 95,000 customers of South East Water, in the Westernport and Mornington Peninsula areas.

As well as boosting Melbourne’s supplies, the water from Tarago Reservoir will continue to be shared with the environment, with residential customers of Gippsland Water, and with irrigators serviced by Southern Rural Water. 

Background

Tarago Reservoir is located near the township of Neerim South, 20 kilometres north of Warragul and 95 kilometres east of Melbourne.  It was constructed in 1969 to supply several nearby townships, the Mornington Peninsula and Westernport regions.

The reservoir has a history of water quality issues and occasional algal blooms. Land surrounding the reservoir is used for a number of purposes, such as residential, agriculture and forestry, and this can have an impact on water quality.

In 1994 supply to Melbourne Water customers in Westernport and the Mornington Peninsula - who received untreated water from the reservoir - was stopped when the water became unsuitable for drinking.

To avoid the water quality problems of the past, Melbourne Water built a new water treatment plant at Drouin West, nine kilometres south-west of the reservoir on the route of the existing Tarago-Westernport Pipeline.  Work on the treatment plant began in October 2007 and was completed in June 2009.

The plant uses Dissolved Air Flotation and Filtration (DAFF) and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection, effective water treatment technologies which are commonly used across Australia.

As well as the treatment plant, Melbourne Water is undertaking several major initiatives to improve water quality in the reservoir.  This includes stormwater management, erosion control and sustainable farm management programs.

More information

For further information on the Tarago Reservoir Reconnection, visit the Melbourne Water website.