Tarago Reconnection

High quality water from the Tarago Reservoir has now been reconnected to Melbourne’s water supply as part of the Victorian Government’s $4.9 billion Water Plan.

The reconnection has made an additional 15 billion litres of water available to Melbourne each year. This ensures that we can continue to provide you with high quality water, now and into the future.

Tarago Reservoir water is treated to a high quality standard, equal to that of Cardinia and Thomson Reservoirs. A state-of-the-art Treatment Plant, built by Melbourne Water as part of the Tarago Reservoir reconnection project, ensures high quality water continues to be supplied.

The attached map shows areas that will predominantly receive their water supply from Tarago Reservoir, along with areas that will occasionally receive Tarago water combined with their usual supply. A locations listing is also provide below.

Tarago Reservoir Supply Area (130Kb)

Surburbs supplied by Tarago Reservoir (10Kb)

Press release from Minister Tim Holding - 24 June (10Kb)

What is the Tarago Reservoir?

The Tarago Reservoir is an ‘open’ water supply catchment, covering approximately 11,400 hectares in Neerim South (95kms east of Melbourne). The catchment includes 8,600 hectares of State forest, 2,080 hectares of privately owned land used for farming and 680 hectares of Melbourne Water owned land. The reservoir was constructed in 1969 and can hold up to 37 billion litres of water.

What is the water quality like from Tarago Reservoir?

Water supplied from Tarago Reservoir is treated to a level equal to that of water sourced from the Cardinia and Thomson Reservoirs, and is perfectly safe to drink. It is now part of Melbourne’s water supply system.

Who is receiving water from the Tarago Reservoir?

The water from the Tarago Reservoir is being supplied to customers at Kooweerup, Lang Lang, on the Mornington Peninsula and from Nar Nar Goon to Longwarry. Gippsland Water has been treating and supplying its customers with water from the Tarago Reservoir since 1996.

Why does the water from Tarago Reservoir need treating?

Untreated water from the Tarago Reservoir was used until 1994, when Melbourne's storages were close to 90% full. The reservoir then experienced some water quality issues and occasional algal blooms and made the quality of the water supply to the Mornington Peninsula and Westernport variable. As a result Melbourne Water stopped using the Tarago Reservoir.

Since then, Melbourne Water has built a new state-of-the-art Treatment Plant and the water quality now matches that of water sourced from the Cardinia and Thomson Reservoirs.

Have the recent bushfires impacted the water quality at Tarago Reservoir?

No. Although there was some bushfire damage to parts of the Tarago catchment (as there was to the Maroondah and O’Shannassy catchments), this won’t impact the quality of the water provided to customers.

How does this affect current water restrictions?

Even though the Tarago Reservoir reconnection has made more water available for the future, our dams are at record lows. In conjunction with Stage 3a water restrictions, the Target 155 program encourages Melbournians to use no more than 155 litres of water per day.