Corporate

Barwon Water (Barwon Region Water Corporation) is Victoria's largest regional urban water corporation.

Barwon Water was constituted in February 1994, but its history can be traced back to the establishment of the Geelong Municipal Waterworks Trust in 1908.

We provide world standard water and sewerage services to more than 275,000 permanent residents over 8,100 square kilometres.

We are a major employer in the region employing 375 operational, engineering, strategic planning, financial and administrative specialists.

Our region

Our region of responsibility stretches from Little River and the Bellarine Peninsula in the east to Colac in the west, and from Meredith and Cressy in the north to Apollo Bay on Victoria's south-west coast.

The City of Greater Geelong, Borough of Queenscliffe, Surf Coast and Colac Otway Shires and part of Golden Plains Shire is incorporated in our service area.

A $1.024 billion asset base includes more than 5,640 kilometres of pipes, 10 major reservoirs, 10 water treatment plants and nine water reclamation plants.

Water sources

Geelong region’s water is supplied by three major sources - the Barwon River, East Moorabool River and West Moorabool River.

The Barwon River system, from its Otway Ranges catchment, supplies approximately 70 per cent of the water for Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula and Surf Coast via the Wurdee Boluc Reservoir and water treatment plant. The balance is supplied from catchments on the Moorabool River system, which provide water to the Moorabool water treatment plant at She Oaks, north of Lethbridge. The Moorabool system also provides water to Anakie, Staughton Vale, Bannockburn, Gheringhap, Teesdale, Shelford and Inverleigh.

Supplies in the Colac and Otway regions are drawn from five separate sources, all located in the forested catchments of the Otway Ranges. The Colac system provides water to urban and rural districts extending as far north as Cressy. Gellibrand, Aireys Inlet/Fairhaven, Apollo Bay/Skenes Creek and Lorne each have their own supply system.

Water customers

Domestic customers comprise 92 per cent of the customer base, with industrial and commercial customers accounting for the remaining 8 per cent. However, non-domestic customers use around 35 per cent of metered consumption.

Water reclamation plants

Barwon Water has nine water reclamation plants governed by Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria licensing requirements. Black Rock, Anglesea, Apollo Bay and Lorne plants release recycled water through ocean outfalls. Plants at Aireys Inlet, Bannockburn, Portarlington and Winchelsea are land-based systems. Water from the Colac facility is released into Lake Colac.

All water reclamation plants produce water suitable for recycling. More than 14 per cent of our recycled water is committed to a variety of users, including wineries, golf courses and turf, flower, tomato and potato growers.

Map of serviced areas, catchments and major infrastructure

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