With the Victorian Government recently announcing a record desalinated water order, it raises the question as to how that water reaches Melbourne households.
Seawater is extracted from Bass Strait and processed at the Victorian desalination plant in Wonthaggi, where salt and minerals are left behind. The water is then treated to ensure it matches the flavour and quality of Melbourne’s natural catchments, and that it meets Australia’s strict drinking water guidelines.
“Leaving Wonthaggi, the treated water heads north, 84km through a dedicated pipeline to Cardinia Reservoir in Melbourne’s southeast,” Melbourne Water said of the process.
“Once there, it blends with water from natural catchments. Cardinia acts as a balancing point, absorbing the city’s seasonal fluctuations in demand and maintaining steady pressure throughout the network before water reaches homes and businesses.
“From Cardinia, gravity handles most of the rest. Water from Cardinia generally flows south and east, supplying households across the Mornington Peninsula and Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs.”
Melbourne Water executive general manager – service futures Chris Brace explained the importance of desalinated water.
“Desalinated water has become an essential part of how we keep Melbourne’s taps flowing,” he said. “As our city grows and our climate changes, it gives us a reliable supply we can draw on when we need it most.”
Melbourne has called upon desalinated water to supplement natural supplies for nearly a decade, but the flavour always remains consistent.
“Taste remains consistent. Rigorous testing is assured. Only the journey differs in length,” Melbourne Water explained.
The Victorian Government has ordered 150 gigalitres (GL) of desalinated water for the 2026–27 financial year, which tops the 50GL order from the previous financial year and surpasses the previous high (125GL orders in three successive years: 2019–20 to 2021–22).
It comes as metropolitan storage levels reach their lowest level in more than six years.
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