Charges explained
At City West Water we are committed to providing our customers with the best quality water services at an affordable cost.
We are a state-owned water distributor and retailer in metro Melbourne. The prices we charge are regulated by the Essential Services Commission (ESC). This ensures the money we collect is no more than we need to prudently operate our business.
Our 2019-20 charges mean that a residential water bill remains one of the lowest average bills in any capital city in Australia. And, our business customers have experienced the largest reduction to their bill than any other Victorian water corporation during the 2018-19 financial year.
Over the past 5 years, Melbourne has experienced warmer, drier weather conditions with less rain, which has led to water storage levels dropping to around 50% of capacity. The Victorian Desalination Plant increases the resilience of Melbourne’s water supply network, supplementing water from our protected catchments. The Desalination Plant has the capacity to provide Melbourne with one-third of its water needs and in 2019-20, 125 billion litres of water has been ordered to help our storages stabilise and recover. From 1 July 2019, all customer water usage will cover the cost of the water ordered from the Desalination Plant, with an average cross-Melbourne quarterly residential bill increase of about $2.50.
As one of Victoria’s water authorities, our prices are set by the ESC. The ESC’s Price Determination for City West Water sets out prices from 1 July 2018 and the process we use to update our prices annually to 30 June 2023. The 2019-20 approved pricing begins from 1 July 2019. For more information on the price determination, please visit the ESC's website.