The Government has established several initiatives to encourage Victoria’s non-residential sector to become more water efficient:

• Annual water reporting - Since 2006/07, water corporations report annually on significant water users. These users are named in Parliament as part of the annual reporting process. The level of individual water use is not disclosed.
  
  
• Pricing - In its recent pricing decision for the metropolitan water retailers, the Essential Services Commission (ESC) has increased the proportion of consumption based water charges. This will assist in encouraging sustainable water use by non-residential customers in Melbourne.
  
  
• Analysing (benchmarking) water use - Industry groups will work with water corporations and the State Government to build a stronger picture of how water is used by industry and where savings can be made.

Industry-specific Programs

The Government is working with a number of specific industries to assist in reducing water consumption:

• Cooling Tower Program
  The Cooling Tower Water Efficiency Program, which is now completed, was implemented to optimise cooling tower maintenance and operating processes. It is expected to save over one billion litres a year through optimising cooling tower maintenance and operating processes.
  
  The program developed an on-line tool to allow businesses to increase water efficiency in the operation of their cooling towers. This tool is available at: www.ctwec.com
  
  
• Laundry Program
  Best practice operating processes for laundries.  This is a $1 million program targeting 500 million litres of water savings by moving all commercial laundries to an accepted level of industry best practice. Further information can be found on the Yarra Valley Water website.
  
  
• Greening Victoria’s hospitals
  A $3.9 million program to upgrade hospitals and aged care facilities to save energy and water.
  
  
• Smart Metering
  Implementation of smart meters to monitor water use in real time, allowing Melbourne’s largest non-residential water users to better understand their water consumption patterns, identify leaks and other abnormalities, and improve their water efficiency practices.

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