Our region is experiencing heavy rain with more forecast over the coming months. In response we have prepared some information for our customers.
View our latest service interruptions and incidents here.
You can view the latest flood mapping on the North Central Catchment Management Authority's website.
To help plan for potential flood impacts at your home visit the SES website.
Keep informed with the latest emergency warnings at Emergency Victoria.
Remember to keep your overflow relief gully clear, you can learn about ORG's here.
Changes to water quality and sources
If you live or work in an area that is subject to flooding, it’s important to understand that floods can impact drinking water supplies. With these impacts potentially lasting for several days or more in extreme circumstances.
If you are able to do so, we recommend putting 20-40 litres of drinking water aside in suitable containers that will meet the drinking water needs of your household. Suitable large containers to store drinking water can be purchased at most camping stores.
Changes in raw water quality can occur during heavy rain events when pollutants and nutrients are washed into rivers and creeks. Our treatment plants are designed to cope with changes in raw water quality. We constantly monitor the raw and treated water supply and adjust our treatment processes where needed to provide consistency in water quality.
For further information see our Drinking Water and Water Quality web page.
If the safety of your drinking water is impacted by floods, you will be notified through community warnings and updates - stay up to date.
When to contact Coliban Water
Contact us if you have a problem with your water or sewer service, or to report a leak or burst. Call our 24-hour number 1300 363 200.
For further information see our faults, leaks and service interruptions web page.
Response times
During a heavy rain event we can experience high call volumes and our network crews may take longer than usual to respond. We have to prioritise jobs and our crews can encounter road closures due to flood waters.
We appreciate your patience while we work to carry out repairs as quickly as possible.
What happens to the sewer network in a heavy rain event?
During a heavy rain event, stormwater can enter our sewer network. Our network is designed to cope with a 1 in 5 year storm event, however in more extreme events our network may reach capacity and overflow.
When this happens we may need to release the diluted wastewater from specific overflow locations. These releases are inline with our Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria requirements and are reported to the EPA.
There is no impact on drinking water quality from this type of action.
Preventing wastewater flooding in your home
If a sewer block occurs there is a small drain located in the ground outside your home or business called an Overflow Relief Gully (ORG). This is designed to release any overflow outside and away from the interior of your home or business.
Your ORG grate must be loose so that it can pop off easily in the case of an overflow. It is important that your ORG is not covered by a pot plant, garden bed or any landscaping works and you should check to ensure it is clear of debris.
For further information see our Overflow Relief Gully web page.
Flooding
If there is a flood in a town, we work closely with the State Emergency Service (SES) as they take the lead during these events.
Flood warnings for rivers and streams are issued by the SES via the VicEmergency website www.emergency.vic.gov.au. For life-threatening emergencies call 000.
Your local council is responsible for managing stormwater and the drainage network.
Catchment storages
Our region is experiencing high rainfall which can significantly increase inflows to our catchment storages near Kyneton. When storages are at capacity the same amount of water that enters the storage is released to maintain dam safety.
Our dams meet the Australian National Committee on Large Dams (ANCOLD) dam safety requirements and we have regular and ongoing monitoring and maintenance of our storages for dam safety.
Our catchment storages were designed and built as storages for town water supply, not designed and are not designed for flood mitigation.
During times of high rainfall and inflow into our catchment storages we implement our dam management procedures to manage the inflow and outflow of water.
Emergency telephone numbers
Emergency: 000
State Emergency Service (SES): 13 25 00
VicRoads road closure information: 13 11 70
Wildlife rescue: 1300 094 535
Emergency updates
Vic Emergency on Twitter
ABC Central Victoria 91.1 FM
ABC Central Victoria on Twitter
Key information services
VicEmergency
Bureau of Meteorology Victoria
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
Department of Transport - VicTraffic
Victoria Police