Our organisation

Traditional Custodian Acknowledgement

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the region we operate within, the Dja Dja Wurrung, Wadawurrung, Wurundjeri, Djab Wurrung, Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagulk peoples and pay our deepest respect to their Elders past and present.

We acknowledge their role as custodians of land and water for thousands of years. Their continuing culture, contribution and connection to Country is vital to the life of this region.

Central Highlands Water is committed to supporting Traditional Custodians and local Aboriginal community groups on their journey to self-determination and the implementation of Healthy Country Plans.

It remains our intention that our ongoing actions will deepen these partnerships to better understand how we can support the desired objectives and work together to achieve shared outcomes that enhance Country and communities. 

Central Highlands Water recognises and values the contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples make in our society. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.

About Us

Our Vision 

Fostering sustainable living, thriving communities and a healthy environment.

Our Purpose

We care for our community and environment ensuring essential water services are safe, reliable and affordable now and in future.

Our Values 

• Integrity
• Teamwork
• Leadership
• Care

We are a regional water corporation providing drinking water, sewerage, trade waste and recycled water services to customers throughout the Central Highlands region of Victoria.

Our region

We service a large geographical region of 9,275 square kilometres and manage 15 distinct water supply systems and 13 wastewater systems in the local government areas of Ballarat, Central Goldfields, Golden Plains, Hepburn, Pyrenees, Northern Grampians, Moorabool and Corangamite.

Our services

We provide water supply and sewerage services through 74,034 water supply connections and 68,039 wastewater service connections to 184,087 residents throughout the Central Highlands region. Our customer and community engagement is very important to us and enables us to gain a better understanding of our customers’ needs and expectations, and to assist in planning services for the future.  

Our core functions

Water supply

• Collect, store, treat, transfer and distribute water
• Manage and protect the water supply system
• Identify current and future water needs
• Develop and implement programs for the conservation and efficient use of water
• Educate the public about the water supply

Sewerage

• Efficient collection, transfer, treatment and disposal of sewage
• Identify current sewerage needs and plan for future needs
• Develop and implement programs for the recycling and reuse of treated wastewater
• Investigate, promote and conduct research into the provision of sewerage services

Trade waste
We partner with industrial and commercial customers and the community to provide environmentally friendly operating systems for the delivery, treatment and disposal of trade waste.
 
Recycled water
Provide recycled water that supports us to:

• Reduce demand on our water catchments
• Save a significant amount of drinking water
• Reduce the amount of wastewater discharged to regional waterways
• Provide a safe, alternative water source for gardening, irrigation of public parks, golf courses, sporting ovals and recreational lakes

We perform these functions in an environmentally sound way, recognising the need to preserve landscape, fauna and flora.

Five key agencies work together to manage water resources in the Corangamite region. Sometimes their boundaries overlap, but each organisation has a different role and provides different services to the community. Find out more about who manages water in our region.