WESTERNPORT WATER

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WESTERNPORT WATER
COMMUNITY CONSULTATION WATER PLAN 2008 2013
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Agenda

• Workshop objectives
• Group rules
• Water plan overview
• Consultation process

This workshop provides a landscape view to gain
your feedback.
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Group rules

• You are here as representatives of your community
• No right or wrong answers
• Everyone must have a chance to contribute to the
  discussion
• All records of the group and reports will be
  de-identified, i.e. individual names will not
  appear on any documentation
• Group duration 2 hours

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Workshop objectives

• Gather customer feedback
• Help formalise plans for 2008-2013
• Explore in greater detail issues raised in
  telephone survey

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Water Plan overview

• The final Water Plan will be submitted to the
  Essential Service Commission (ESC) in September
• Covers period 2008-2013
• Sets service standards
• Sets prices
• The ESC also expects Water Plans to detail the
  consultations undertaken
• Customers and the community
• Regulators

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Water Plan

• Draft Water Plan to be submitted 1 May 2007
• DSE
• EPA
• DHS
• Open for further community feedback
• Purpose today is gather Community input towards
  development of the Draft Plan.

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Community Consultation Process

• Development of Draft Water Plan
• Telephone survey completed in March
• random sample 200 customers
• On-line feedback survey
• Currently available
• www.westernportwater.com.au
• Open until 10 April
• Community Forums
• 28 and 31 March

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The Water Plan will cover

• Pricing
• Step tariffs
• Lower the service charge and raise the volumetric
  charge
• Water supply security
• Options to improve supply
• Costing of these options
• Water quality
• Options to improve quality
• Costing of these options

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Water pricing

• Water pricing is made up of two components
• Service charge relating to infrastructure
• Volumetric charge actual water used
• WPW is considering options for pricing that
• Are fair to all customers
• Permanent
• Non permanent
• Consider affordability issues
• Support customer awareness of water usage
• Recovers enough to run the business

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Water pricing - issues

• Customer base
• 60 non permanent residents
• 40 permanent residents
• Pipes and pumps sized for peak
• Underutilised for majority or year
• Need to recover full cost plus future cost

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Water pricing - options

• Option 0 Status quo Service charge with
  volumetric charge
• Option 1 - Step tariff structure with affordable
  first tariff block
• This system would result in high water users
  paying a higher premium for water
• This structure would only apply to domestic
  customers, not commercial who are often higher
  water users
• Option 2 - Lower the service charge raise
  volumetric charges
• Applies to domestic and commercial/ rural
  customers
• Overseas experience is that low-income households
  are much more likely to have below average water
  consumption

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Water pricing options customer feedback

• What do you think?
• How do you rate Option 0?
• How do you rate Option 1?
• How do you rate Option 2?

1 Poor -
10 Excellent

• What are the advantages of Option 1?
• What are the advantages of Option 2?
• Are there any other options WPW should consider?
• Which option do you prefer?

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Water supply security

• Managing supply demand balance

Demand Steady at 2000 Ml
Water Supply Certainty Now Very uncertain
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Water supply security - options

• WPW is considering 4 options to secure the water
  supply
• Continue to use our current reservoir (Candowie
  Reservoir) with groundwater and the Bass River
• Extend Candowie Reservoir in the short term
• Extend Candowie Reservoir in the long term
• Melbourne Water connection

Note All of these options will come with a cost
to the consumer
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Water supply security - options

• Option 1 continue to use Candowie reservoir
  with groundwater and the Bass River
• Involves obtaining
• 1.6 Gl from aquifer
• 1 Gl from Bass River
• Environmental impact
• Reliability of bore uncertain
• Relies on rainfall

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Water supply security - options

• Option 2 Option 1 plus extend Candowie
  Reservoir
• In the short term this would yield an additional
  500Ml
• Option 3 extend Candowie Reservoir
• Double the Reservoir capacity
• Raise the reservoir wall
• Cost 15 Million
• Additional land would need to be purchased
• 10 increase in accounts

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Water supply security

• Option 4 Connect to Melbourne
• 2200 million litres per year
• Pipeline and pumping
• Relies on water availability
• Slow recovery of Melb system
• Large scale desalinisation possible

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Water security supply customer feedback

• What do you think?
• How do you rate Option 1?
• How do you rate Option 2?
• How do you rate Option 3?
• How do you rate Option 4?

1 Poor -
10 Excellent

• Which option do you prefer?
• Why?

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Water Quality - background

• In the telephone survey
• 66 said taste was the main aspect WPW should
  focus on but
• 67 did not want to pay for improvement
• WPW is considering 3 options to improve water
  quality
• Improve the treatment process.
• Increase the levels of flushing and pipe cleaning
• Provide and maintain filters at customers houses

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Water Quality - options

• Option 1 Improved treatment
• Capital works
• Improves water quality entering system
• Option 2 Flushing and pipe cleaning
• Removes stale water from system
• Increases customer interruptions
• Option 3 On-site filter
• Optional for customers who are willing to pay
• WPW maintains filter
• Removes taste and odour

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Water Quality - customer feedback

• What do you think?
• How do you rate Option 1?
• How do you rate Option 2?
• How do you rate Option 3?

1 Poor -
10 Excellent

• Are they viable options?
• Do you have a preference?
• Would you support any of these initiatives if
  they resulted in a price increase?

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Thank You!