Glossary of Terms
Baseline Water Use - Water usage for all sites within an organisation’s Water Management Action Plan over a 12 month period.
Benchmarking - Benchmarking is a process to measure, analyse, assess and describe an organisation’s performance against agreed criteria for appropriate management purposes. It is a tool used to compare a company’s performance against recognised benchmarks, targets or compliance with local laws.
Biosolids - Sewage sludge that is stabilised and suitable for beneficial reuse
Biodiversity - The variety of ecosystems and species of plants and animals that can be found in the environment
Black water - Water which contains human, food or animal waste
Catchment - A protected area in which water is harvested for use
Check meters - Sub-metering installed to record the water use of individual appliances or areas
City West WaterMAP™- Water Management Action Plan detailing recommended steps to be taken to improve water use efficiency
CCTV - Closed circuit television unit
Cleaner Production - The process of maximising resource use to gain the triple bottom line objectives of improving business sustainability while providing benefits to the community and minimising the impact on the environment. In practical terms this means minimising waste as much as possible as close to the source of generation as possible. The principal relates to all resource use including energy, labour, water and raw materials
CO2 - Carbon dioxide
Commercial Customer - Connected with or engaged in or used by commerce or a commercial enterprise
Data Logging - The automatic collection of data over a period of time
E. coli - Escherichia Coli
Ecological footprint - The ecological impact of our activities and operations on our environment
Effluent - Residual or waste water, including sewage, which is flushed through our sewerage pipes and treated before re-use or discharge to the environment
Emergency Relief Structure - A structure designed to permit controlled discharge of stormwaters that exceed system capacity
Fault - A pipe or main which has been detected as not working efficiently within our system
GJ - Gigajoules = 1,000,000,000 joules
GL - Gigalitre = 1,000,000,000 litres
Gravity sewer - A sewerage system where flow is caused by the force of gravity
Greenhouse gases - The group of gases which contribute to atmospheric warming, and the greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). perfluorocarbons, and hydrofluorocarbons
Grey water - Household wastewater which has not been contaminated by toilet discharge. Grey water includes wastewater from baths, showers, bathroom wash basins, clothes washing machines, sinks and laundry tubs.
GRI - Global Reporting Initiative
Greenfield lot/ development - New residential estate development
HACCP - Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points quality control system
Impermeable - Material or soil that does not allow, or allows only with great difficulty, the movement or passage of water
Industrial Customer - Manufacturing, the organised action of making goods and services for sale
Institutional Customer - An establishment consisting of a building or a series of buildings where an organisation, (for the promotion of some cause), is located.
Key business activity indicator - An indicator of the organisations/sites business operations used for reporting internally and externally
km - kilometre = 1000 metres
kWh - kilo Watt hour = 1000 Watt hours
Licence area - The area in which we are licensed to provide our services
LPG - Liquid petroleum gas
ML - Megalitre = 1,000,000 litres
Main - A large pipe which carries either water or sewage through our system
Main meters - Main meters record the total water use of the entire building or series of buildings
mm - millimetre = 0.001 metres
Monitoring system - A system that provides information on the operation of our water and sewerage systems
NOx - Oxides of nitrogen. These materials are common air pollutants and can be produced by burning fuels including gasoline and coal
Parameters of concern - Component substances of trade waste which have been agreed to by the Melbourne water companies to be of interest to sustainable management of the sewerage system
Pathogens - Organisms capable of causing disease like bacteria, viruses, protozoans and Helminths
Potable water - Drinking water
Pumping station - A structure that houses the equipment used to lift water or sewerage in the system
Recycling/ Re-use - The re-use of treated waste water for alternative purposes
Renewable energy - Energy obtained from sources that are essentially inexhaustible (unlike, for example, fossil fuels, of which there is a finite supply)
Rising main - A sewerage system where a pump lifts and pushes the sewage along a system of sealed pipes
RMP - Trade Waste and Water Resources Management Plan
Service area - The area in which we are licensed to provide our services
Sewage - The fluid waste from domestic, commercial and industrial sources which is discharged to the sewer
Sewer - A pipe which carries sewage to the treatment plant
Sewerage - The entire system of sewage collection, treatment, and disposal
SOx - Oxides of sulfur. These materials are common air pollutants and can be produced by burning fuels including gasoline and coal
Stakeholder - Those people or organisations with whom we have a relationship or a responsibility to, including customers, government, our community and suppliers.
Sustainability - Living and working in ways that do not jeopardise our current and future social, environmental and economic resources
Sustainability indicators - A set of goals which indicate our progress in the pursuit of sustainability
t - tonne = 1000 kilograms
TDS - Total Dissolved Solids
Trade waste - Any waste discharge other than domestic waste
Treatment - The process undertaken to treat effluent to improve its environmental outcome, prior to its re-use or discharge to the environment
TSS - Total suspended solids
UPVC - Unplasticised Poly Vinyl Chloride
Vacuum sewer - A sewerage system where air is injected into a sealed pipe system and a vacuum created to suck the sewage through the system
Verifier - An independent auditor of our sustainability report, used to ensure the statements we make are correct
Waste minimisation - The use of practices and processes which reduce, as much as possible, the amount of waste generated, or the amount which requires subsequent treatment, storage and disposal.
Wastewater - The spent or used water from residential, business or industrial sources
Water Restrictions - Mandatory restrictions on the use of water, which are relative to water storage levels, as defined by the Drought Response Plan
Water retailers - The three water retail businesses within metropolitan Melbourne, including City West Water, South East Water and Yarra Valley Water