Work has started on a new $30 million water main that will service 40,000 homes across the west.
The Water for a Growing West project involves constructing a 17-kilometre pipeline to transfer drinking water from St Albans Reservoir to Cowies Hill Reservoir at
Tarneit.
Spanning Brimbank, Melton and Wyndham, the main is designed to transfer up to 200 megalitres of water a day, the equivalent of 80 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The main will be laid largely under existing power lines between Station Road at Albanvale and Robinsons Road at Deer Park.
At Tarneit, the pipeline alignment will follow Tarneit and Leakes roads then cross into Penrose Promenade, where it will merge with Melbourne Water’s existing water main next to Snowbridge Road.
The new main is expected to be completed by November this year.
Melbourne Water project manager Peter Clark said while the existing network was performing well, an additional main was required to meet future demand, as populations across the west, particularly in Wyndham, grow.
He said water services would not be affected during the construction period.
“Wyndham is one of the fastest-growing areas in Melbourne and we’ve been working closely with City West Water to make sure drinking water supplies keep pace with the region’s growth,” Mr Clark said.
“The extensive planning has also enabled us to achieve significant project savings by looking at how recycled water use could offset drinking water demand, which meant we could downsize the size of pipe required.
“The water main will be built largely under existing power lines and within current and future road reserves to minimise disturbance to landowners.”
