Bushfires and your water supply

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Central Highlands Water cannot guarantee your water supply and water pressure in the event of a bushfire emergency.

Back-up water supplies

It's essential you have independent water supplies in place if you live in a bushfire prone area.

Plan ahead

It's important to prepare your property for fire - but also yourself. Make sure you talk to your family about how you'll know when to leave and where to go to stay safe.

If you have family, friends or neighbours who need help to leave early, talk to them and see if you can help.

Fire danger ratings

Use fire danger ratings to decide when to leave.

Fire danger ratings are not a weather forecast - they tell you how bad a fire would be if one started. As the rating increases, so does your risk of fire.

Our planning

Central Highlands Water prepares for bushfire season by readying our staff, water and wastewater systems to cope with severe conditions.

We work with the Country Fire Authority and the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning during a fire emergency and make preparations beforehand by:

clearing land and access tracks within and around our water and storage infrastructure and catchments
safety training of staff in bushfire awareness
access to water carters to transport emergency water supplies
preparation of a Bushfire Emergency Management Plan

Drinking water

We recommend you keep a supply of drinking water available in case your water supply is interrupted.

Bushfire contacts and information

For more information about preparing your family and home for bushfire season, visit the Country Fire Authority website [2].

Others contacts:

Life threatening emergency	000
State Emergency Service (SES) assistance [3]	132 500
Victorian Bushfire Information Line [4]	1800 240 667
Vic Roads [5]	13 11 70
ABC local radio [6]	107.9
Follow 107.9 ABC Ballarat on Twitter [7]

Forest Fire Management Victoria

Forest Fire Management Victoria work to reducing the risk and impact of bushfires on Victoria's parks, forests and other public land. For more inofrmation visit: www.ffm.vic.gov.au/who-we-are/forest-fire-management-victoria [8]

Fines

Bushfire prevention is everyone's responsibility. Recklessly causing a fire is a crime for which you can be charged and face fines of up to $34,000 and 15 years jail.