The Coliban Water 2018/19 rural season will start mid-October as weather continues to warm and in light of below average rainfall in recent months.
Manager Regional Liveability Steve Healy said rural water customers were keen to access water, and that both raw and recycled water customers were entitled to a 100 per cent allocation this season.
“Our delivery season will commence around Monday 15 October for most channel systems. Some systems will start slightly later according to channel rosters.
“This is the eighth consecutive year we’ve been able to open the season with a 100 per cent allocation, which is great news,” he said.
“We are also starting the rural season slightly earlier to meet customer demand and in response to recent climatic conditions.”
More information is available in Coliban Water’s latest Rural Water Guide, which is being mailed to rural customers in coming days.
“It’s also worth noting the Axe Creek system will run slightly earlier than usual to accommodate a short mid-November shutdown to allow for some works to take place,” Mr Healy said. “We’ll be contacting these customers to ensure they’re aware of this.”
The Coliban rural system supplies untreated water to more than 1,300 rural licence holders via 520 kilometres of channel and pipelines. Rural water is untreated and not suitable for human consumption. No quality standards apply to this water, unlike the water from the treated urban drinking supply.
“Our staff and contractors have been busy in recent months preparing for the upcoming rural season through a number of maintenance projects,” Mr Healy said.
“This has included weed spraying, leak repairs, embankment repairs, channel stop installations, servicing of pumps, erosion control and mechanical desilting. There’s also been access track improvements and clearing of fallen tree limbs on Coliban Main Channel.”
For rural customers who wish to order water, please have your property ID number ready when you call on 1300 761 738.
“Customers can order water between 7am and 2.30pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays and the Christmas/New Year break). We require 48 hours’ notice or two working days,” Mr Healy said.
“Remember you need to be either a registered licence holder or a nominated rural ordering authorised person for the account.”
In August Coliban Water completed a $4.6 million project to renew 2.7 kilometres of the Coliban Main Channel which took place over four years.
Six sections of channel were identified for renewal due to their age and condition as part of an ongoing renewal program.
“This important work has improved the security and efficiency of the channel while protecting its environmental and heritage value,” Mr Healy said.
“We’re pleased to have completed this work which contributes to the overall improvement of our rural network for our customers.”
In the 2017/18 rural season 1,703 orders were placed for water deliveries on our channel systems. Coliban Water delivered approximately 3,100 megalitres of water to 887 licence holders, not including 256 customers on our three pipeline systems, who took a total of approximately 1,600 megalitres.
Information on our rural system is available on our website here.
Last updated on 08 Jul 2019