Coliban Water Rural System

> About the Coliban Rural System

The Coliban Rural System provides untreated water from Malmsbury Reservoir and Lake Eppalock to approximately 1,500 rural licence holders via 550 kilometres of channels and pipelines.

Rural water is untreated, and therefore not intended nor suitable for human consumption. No quality standards apply to this water, unlike water from the treated urban drinking water supply.

Rural water supplied to properties is of a seasonal nature and the amount and flow rate cannot be guaranteed. Depending on supply conditions, a full allocation of water may not be available to customers.

The supply of water via our rural water supply system is by licence issued under Section 51 of the Water Act 1989.

> 2012/13 rural season closure

Our rural channel system closed on Wednesday 15 May 2013.

Next season will open in late October, depending on demand.

For further information please contact us on 1300 363 200.

Rural season allocation announcement media release (2 July 2012)

> Register your interest - water deliveries at short notice trial

Would you like to be on a list for water deliveries at short notice? The purpose is to develop a register of potential customers on all channels (excluding the Coliban Main Channel) that can be contacted at short notice to maximise water delivery efficiency on the channel.

There’s no obligation to take water when contacted. We are trialling it this season.

To register your interest or for further information, please call our rural team on 1300 363 200.

> Electric fence signage reminder

A reminder to customers to please have appropriate signage and an insulated connection on their electric fence where channel outlets are located nearby. Rural staff require a safe entry point at all times to access these outlets.

> Proposal for future rural pricing and next steps…

From 1 July 2013 we are proposing a 3% decrease in prices for rural customers (to offset the cost of inflation), and for the four years following that our pricing proposal is to only increase rural prices by the cost of inflation.

This Water Plan pricing proposal was submitted to the industry regulator the Essential Services Commission at the end of September.

What we discovered during our consultation on our draft Water Plan was that we need to spend more time talking to rural customers about the structure of your tariffs.

So from 1 July 2013 the main tariff structure change is to reduce the fixed channel charge compared to the fixed pipeline charge. We had a lot of feedback from customers that the charges being the same was unfair given the difference between a channel supply and a pipeline supply.

We are also proposing a modernised tariff. This specifically relates to Harcourt and will apply when the new Harcourt piped water system is built and the rural channel system no longer exists.

Our full pricing proposal is on our
Water Plan 2013-2018 page.

Above: the Ascot rural system

> Rural water licences and application forms

A Rural Water Licence has been issued to each existing Coliban Rural System customer for the current agreed volume.

More information on licences and application forms

> Licence transfers

If you wish, you can transfer all or part of your licence volume to another customer. This transfer can be either permanent or temporary.

More information on transferring your licence