Customers first, benefiting communities

II

What we do and who we serve

Wyndham

Brimbank

Hume

Melbourne

Melton

Marybyrnong

Yarra

Moonee Valley

Hobsons Bay

430,000 More than

properties.

Over one million residential customers and nearly 40,000

non-residential customers

City West Water service area population

in 2030 expected to be more than

1.3 million Commercial

customers range from large CBD operations to home businesses and

start-ups in the city and outer suburbs

Melbourne is Australia’s

fastest growing

capital city

130+ cultural groups.

Over one third speak a language other than

English at home

100 billion litres

of drinking water to our customers

per annum

billion of infr

$1.7 astructure

across a service area of more than 700 square

kilometres 1,000+ phone calls from

customers to our call centre, on average,

per day

42% of total water sold

by CWW is to non-residential

customers

Largest Industrial customer base of any Victorian water business

hospitals 18

univ10

ersity campuses

major spor7

ting event

venues

4,785 kilometres of water

supply mains and 4,239 kilometres of sewer

supply mains

1million More than

’

daily visitors to Melbourne expected by 2030, posing

challenges for the city s public and commercial

spaces

Developers range from

multi-national entities to the mum & dad

sub -dividers

City West Water acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we operate. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

Contents

A new strategy for City West Water 5

Our vision 6

To be an exceptional service provider … 7

… that puts customers first … 7

… and benefits the community 7

Our ambition 10

Customer value 11

Community liveability and wellbeing 12

People enable our ambition 14

Success is built on … 16

Achievement culture 18

Dynamic technology 19

Streamlined delivery 20

Great partnerships 25

Purposeful leadership 26

Extensive knowledge of the water cycle 29

© 2016 City West Water 1

Our strategy

To be an exceptional service provider that puts customers first and benefits the community.

Customer value is at the heart of all we do.

We are driven to: • deliver exceptional services that are affordable,

safe and reliable• be accessible and easy to deal with• make all decisions in our customers’ best interests

and with future generations in mind

We are passionate about community liveability and wellbeing.

We are driven to: • care for, and where possible to enhance, the environment – with an

eye to the future and the challenges imposed by a changing climate• be vibrant partners in the life of our community• anticipate community needs and to take the lead within our areas

of influence• provide a fair return to our shareholder, the State Government

of Victoria, to support it to meet its objectives to improve thelives of all Victorians

Our ambition is enabled by our people.

Our people are: • agile – responsive to customer needs and a changing world• diverse – reflect the community we serve• trusted – make evidence-driven judgements, exercised with integrity

2

Success is built on ...

3

Our vision

Our ambition

Our people

ACHIEVEMENT

CULTURE

DYNAMIC

TECHNOLOGY

STREAMLINED

DELIVERY

GREAT

PARTNERSHIPS

PURPOSEFUL

LEADERSHIP

EXTENSIVE

KNOWLEDGE

OF THE

WATER CYCLE

4

Introduction

A new strategy for City West Water

Where we are now City West Water is embarking on a new strategy. This strategy articulates what is important for our customers, and therefore City West Water, with a view out to 2030. Providing focus and aligning the many components  of City West Water ensures we’re delivering a better service for our customers, in a way that puts them first.

Our previous strategy was devised 13 years ago. It sought to embed a triple bottom line approach into our company and has served us well. Yet like all businesses, we must reflect the expectations of our customers and the value they place upon our services. And these clearly alter with time.

Additionally, City West Water employees – ‘our people’ – have expressed an appetite for change, and a desire to challenge. Change to develop a strategy that reflects our current operating environment, and by challenging they have largely sought to question the status quo and its prevailing sense of adequacy. The challenge from our people demanded a new boldness and ambition, while recognising the path to change and high performance would not necessarily be swift, yet essential if City West Water is to realise its full potential.

5

6

Our vision“To be an exceptional service provider that puts customers first and benefits the community.”

Our vision

Our vision declares not only our strategic direction, but also our binding and uniting business commitment.

To be an exceptional service provider …

Our business exists because people, places and spaces need water and wastewater services.

At the turn of a tap or the press of a button, City West Water services are at work – that’s a given. Yet what cannot be taken for granted is the level of service we choose to provide – and we like to think of this as providing essential services in an exceptional way.

We care. Our customer service is fair and empathetic. We seek to understand what it is our customers value and match our services to their expectations.

We operate our business in a prudent and sustainable manner, conscious of the impact our decisions have on our customers and their finances, as well as the environment the next generation will inherit.

… that puts customers first …

We serve a growing customer base of more than 430,000 properties, equating to more than one million residential customers and nearly 40,000 non-residential customers.

We are a legislated provider of infrastructure and services, which means our customers don’t get to choose their water retailer – City West Water is their provider based on where they live or do business. This point isn’t lost on us. In fact, this strategy seeks to enshrine the great privilege and responsibility we have – our customers are our first priority.

We also acknowledge that our customers may be largely unaware of the complex operations that sit behind the essential services we provide.

Seamless and unobtrusive delivery means we’re doing things right. However, this doesn’t mean the services we provide aren’t special – one only needs to imagine Melbourne without clean drinking water, reliable supplies of fit-for purpose water to business and effective sewerage and trade waste services to see a city that suddenly isn’t so liveable any more.

Water is a life-giving resource, its provision alongside sewerage services contributes to community health and hygiene. We strive to deliver our services in a reliable and affordable way that is accessible to everyone in our community and supports the prosperity of City West Water.

… and benefits the community

Our customers are clearly our reason for being and we are setting out a pathway towards becoming a truly customer-driven business. Further, as custodians of water resources, we are in a unique position to partner with others in the community to enable the health, economic, social and environmental benefits of water to be truly realised. We are well connected into local and State government and participate in a range of forums where our influence can be positively expressed for the benefit of our community.

During times of low rainfall, our customers look to us for advice and water saving solutions. We are proud of our role in influencing water efficiency behaviours in homes and businesses across our service area.

Our environment relies on water. The millennium drought demonstrated the stark and ravaging impacts on our city’s trees and landscape starved of this precious resource. Without water, trees and vegetation cannot fully provide the range of ecosystem services that assist in creating a truly liveable city, such as: temperature regulation; air quality improvements; carbon-dioxide storage; improved habitat; and stormwater and catchment benefits. Greener urban environments can offer low-cost preventive strategies to improve community health, reduce heat stress, increase amenity and foster social cohesion.

The nature of our operations means that we are one of the largest waste transfer businesses in Victoria. By partnering with others, there is potential to shift from a ‘waste’ to ‘resource recovery’ mindset and this could have a positive impact in addressing community waste problems.

Our vision commits us to actively exploring the many ways we can benefit our community. Some may be close at hand, and others will require new partnerships that are yet to be struck. When these endeavours have the potential to create positive outcomes for our community, we will actively seek them.

7

8

Nitin Bhradwaj Point Cook resident

“I’d like to think my children can enjoy the benefits of green outdoor spaces well into the future. Water is essential to that.”

Our vision

9

10

Our ambition

“Customer value is at the heart of all w e do.

We are passionate about community liveability and w ellbeing.”

Our ambition

Customer value is at the heart of all we do.

We are driven to: • deliver exceptional services that are affordable, safe and reliable• be accessible and easy to deal with• make all decisions in our customers’ best interests and with future generations in mind.

The first component of our twofold ambition is detailed as follows.

Customer value

Customer value is intrinsically linked to our business. Our activities are informed by what our customers view as important and we need to be aligned to their expectations.

Our ambition dictates that our water and wastewater services are provided in an exceptional way that is:

• Affordable. We are mindful of both our customers’ diversity and their ability to pay. We have a customer base that is home to: rapid growth; substantial areas of socio-economic disadvantage; and a large proportion of Melbourne’s commercial and industrial enterprises.

• Safe. Safety of the community and our people is our foremost priority. Our water is clean and safe to drink and exceeds Department of Health and Human Services standards.

• Reliable. We are trustworthy providers of water and wastewater services. We manage our water resources in a way that recognises the need for long-term water security, particularly in the face of a changing climate and growing population. We set exceptional standards of service delivery. We are consistent.

A critical component of a customer-driven business is the ability for customers to make contact through the means that suits them and in a straightforward way. We pride ourselves in being:

• Accessible. We recognise the diversity of our customers and understand that multiple lines of communication are required to suit their needs. We make ourselves available to ensure whichever the mode of communication, our customers can access the information they need in a prompt and thorough manner.

• Easy to deal with. Whether this involves a telephone conversation, an email, a post or a tweet, we pride ourselves in making it easy and interacting with our customers in a courteous and approachable way. Being easy to deal with also means that our ‘back-of-house’ processes are smooth and our data is accurate, so responses to enquiries can be swiftly provided.

Our decisions are like our engineered assets – they are long-lived. We honour our commitment to current and future generations by making decisions that are informed and cognisant of current and future implications. These decisions take into account changes in customer preferences, technology and the environment. We strive to establish and model best-practice in all that we do.

11

Our ambition

We are passionate about community liveability and wellbeing.

We are driven to: • care for, and where possible to enhance, the environment – with an eye to the future

and the challenges imposed by a changing climate• be vibrant partners in the life of our community• anticipate community needs and to take the lead within our areas of influence• provide a fair return to our shareholder, the State Government of Victoria, to support

it to meet its objectives to improve the lives of all Victorians.

The second component of our twofold ambition is detailed as follows.

Community liveability and wellbeing

More than one million people rely on us to provide them with one of life’s most essential services. However water isn’t only critical to individual wellbeing – when its many benefits are analysed, it’s clear that water is critical to whole of community wellbeing and liveability.

We understand our role as custodians of water resources and infrastructure for our service area. We are also strategically connected to state and local government, industry and community organisations. This places us in a privileged position to proactively contribute to enhancing the environment of our service area. The climate is changing, our cities are growing, and more than ever a coordinated and resilient approach is required to enhance our environment and achieve balance between social, economic and environmental outcomes.

We are vibrant partners in the life of our community. Our water fountains are seen at community festivals; our people provide information about the quality of Melbourne’s drinking water to our residents, including when we welcome newly arrived residents; and we have strong bonds with leading voices in our community.

We place our customers at the heart of City West Water and we’re proud to be a business with heart.

12

“We place our customers at the heart

of City West Water and we’re proud to be a business with heart.”

David Ryan Managing Director City West Water

13

Cameron FitzGerald General Manager, Customers, Community & Environment, City West Water

“Our people enjoy the opportunity to be involved with our local community.”

14

People enable our ambition

“Our people are our most important asset – it is they who deliver exceptional service and value for money.”

-

People enable our ambition

Our ambition is enabled by our people.

Our people are: • agile – responsive to customer needs and a changing world• diverse – reflect the community we serve• trusted – make evidence driven judgements, exercised with integrity.

Our services are delivered through a complex and sophisticated network of engineered assets. However, it is our people, not our pipes that make City West Water exceptional.

Indeed this strategy is essentially about people. We exist for our customers and are enabled by our people. Our people are our most important asset – it is they who deliver exceptional service and value for money. We value our people and demonstrate this in myriad ways, including through the actions of our leadership and the culture City West Water fosters.

In order to achieve our ambition we seek to employ, retain, develop, manage and motivate people who are:

• Agile. Our people aren’t stuck in the way things used to be done around here. They are responsive to customer needs and expectations and the changing world. They are flexible and adaptive.

• Diverse. Our workforce is a mirror to the wonderfully diverse community we serve. The differences among us provide opportunities to learn and grow and make our workplace vibrant and respectful.

• Trusted. Our people are supported through our business processes to make considered decisions that are driven by the best outcomes for our customers. Honesty and integrity are hallmarks of how we relate to one another and it shows.

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Success is built on …“The right tools, attributes and attitudes ar e required to deliver value and exceptional service to our customers and to benefit our communit y.

We need a willingness to go abo ve and beyond.”

Success is built on …

Successful achievement of our ambition is built on six strong foundations.

AC

HIE

VEM

ENT

CU

LTU

RE

• Our people are valued and trusted • We live and breathe safety and wellbeing • Diversity and inclusion is actively encouraged • Innovation is nurtured and recognised • Collaboration thrives across City West Water

and with our partners • Flexibility, adaptability and resilience exemplify

the way we work • Individual capability is developed • Leaders are respectful, respected and trusted • Custodianship of community infrastructure

is a privilege and a responsibility P

AR

TNER

SHIP

S G

REA

T

• We add value to our customers’ lives and business operations

• We partner in climate change mitigation • We provide support for healthy trees and

thriving community spaces • Knowledge exchange with stakeholders

is a two-way street

OG

Y

TEC

HN

OL

YN

AM

ICD

• Asset management is focussed on customer outcomes

• Clever technology is embraced • Service delivery to customers is efficient,

valued and satisfying

LEA

DER

SHIP

P

UR

PO

SEFU

L

• We find the ‘sweet spots’ where our expertise is valued

• We lead in climate adaptation • We are influential in creating a better

functioning water industry • We lead the conversation on community

water literacy

DEL

IVER

Y

STR

EAM

LIN

ED

• Risk is responsibly managed • The environment is protected • Standards for water quality, environmental

protection and customer service are met or exceeded

• The power of data is harnessed • Decision making is supported by robust

business cases • Growth and evolution in our customer

base is supported • Customers’ needs are met responsively

and sensitively

W

LED

GE

CLE

Y

KN

O C TE

R

TEN

SIV

E AW

TH

E EX O

F

• The liveability of Greater Melbourne is a shared responsibility

• Diversity of water resources will help meet the challenges ahead

• Water efficiency is a key contributor to resource optimisation

17

Success is built on …

Achievement culture

“… a culture that is oriented towards achievement and an expectation of high performance”

Exceptional customer service is enabled by a culture that is oriented towards achievement and an expectation of high performance, where required behaviours are second nature. Our people are confident in their abilities, but grounded by the need to deliver for our customers and community. Our people are valued, safe, diverse, innovative, collaborative and agile. Our leaders are respectful, respected and trusted.

Our people are valued and trusted

Our people are our most highly valued resource. We operate in an environment of earned trust.

We live and breathe safety and wellbeing

City West Water creates an environment where people make good choices – we ‘live and breathe’ safety and wellbeing for our people.

We identify and address potential hazards before they become a ‘near miss’. We are responsive to incidents and assessments of our safety culture. We protect our people and maintain a mentally healthy workplace.

We care for our colleagues, but do not shy away from difficult conversations – we approach them with sensitivity and respect.

Diversity and inclusion is actively encouraged

Melbourne and its west have extraordinarily diverse cultures that make our service area a vibrant place to live and work.

Our workforce and its leadership reflects the diversity of the community we serve. The differences among us provide wonderful opportunities to learn and grow. We ensure effective engagement with and between people where there are significant differences in identities, perspectives, interests and skills.

Innovation is nurtured and recognised

To be a great organisation, we are always seeking better ways of delivering services to our customers. We are never satisfied with the status quo – targeted innovation in service delivery is nurtured and recognised.

Collaboration thrives across City West Water and with our partners

There is rarely one ‘best’ way of approaching a problem and we grasp the opportunity to share our ideas across City West Water in order to bring all our expertise to bear.

All success is shared.

Our collaborative outlook drives us to share ideas with, listen to and learn from our partners. We build powerful collaborative coalitions within City West Water and beyond in the pursuit of our vision. We know who to involve, why they’re important, how they add value and when the time is right for collaboration.

Flexibility, adaptability and resilience exemplify the way we work

We anticipate and are open to change.

We are flexible, adaptable and resilient in the way we work. We embrace solutions that allow us to most effectively deliver solutions for our customers. In a world where work is described as complex, volatile and ambiguous, we bring technology to bear in a way that facilitates: working from home; flexible working arrangements; and work/life balance.

Our productivity is not impeded merely because we are away from the office – where necessary, we are able to seamlessly ‘work on the move’.

Individual capability is developed

Our people drive their own individual development and take responsibility for maintaining and growing their skills. City West Water provides a framework within which this capability development occurs.

Through understanding how they do (or could further) contribute to organisational success, our people work with their leaders to identify opportunities to upgrade their skills through development that is beneficial to both individuals and City West Water.

Leaders are respectful, respected and trusted

Our leaders are respectful of the skills, perspectives and needs of their employees and are exemplars for the behaviours we value. The opportunities and guidance our leaders provide earn the respect and trust of our people.

Custodianship of community infrastructure is a privilege and a responsibility

Customers do not get to choose their water service provider. We recognise our good fortune, privilege and responsibility to be custodians of essential community infrastructure and services.

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Success is built on …

Dynamic technology

“… service delivery is premised on the use of the right technology, deployed in the right way”

Exceptional service delivery is premised on the use of the right technology, deployed in the right way. We bring an innovative mindset to technology selection that is adventurous yet responsible and seek to benefit from others by adapting great solutions from across the world into our context. However, we do not innovate merely for the sake of providing a point of difference.

We leverage advances in technology to enhance the overall safety, security and reliability, and to reduce the cost, of our operations.

Asset management is focussed on customer outcomes

The assets we manage reflect hundreds of millions of dollars of investment by us on behalf of our customers – some of these assets are more than 100 years old. Our assets are a combination of old, well known, technologies (like pipes) matched with new and emerging technologies (like telemetry and analytics). The manner in which we construct and maintain our assets, keeping them fit-for-purpose, is important as the decisions we make today can affect the quality of service delivered to our customers for generations to come.

Service delivery technologies evolve – new materials emerge and new asset management techniques are developed. The one thing that does not change is that our decisions as to how to apply materials and techniques are always made in the long term best interests of our customers.

Clever technology is embraced

We understand trends in technology and are attuned to the dynamic nature of the technology industry. We use clever technological solutions that provide an opportunity to deliver better outcomes for our customers. We start small and seek quick wins.

Digital enables new ways of working, new ways of learning and harnessing data for better insights. Digital creates new job opportunities and new innovative products and services for customers. Technologies such as robotic process automation, ‘internet of things’ and analytics enable us to focus more on value adding tasks leveraging real time information and insights.

Service delivery to customers is efficient, valued and satisfying

We identify ways to improve service delivery through deploying fit-for-purpose technologies, techniques and processes that include (but are not limited to):

• use of new materials for construction and maintenance

• leveraging peer capabilities

• new forms of data capture and analysis that facilitate new (and more timely) insights to: asset condition; water and wastewater quality; and network capacity for growth.

By using the best options we deliver better outcomes in the long term interests of customers that include:

• providing customers more satisfying interactions with our services – empowering customers through self-service

• ensuring internal systems deliver good experiences for our staff and help to maximise productivity

• optimising asset performance

• minimising the long-term costs of asset construction and maintenance

• minimising waste

• recycling of materials

• reducing our greenhouse gas footprint.

19

 

Success is built on …

Streamlined delivery

“… services that are efficient and relevant to customers’ needs … getting it right first time is a priority”

We deliver services that are efficient and relevant to customers’ needs. We continually seek to do more with less.

We anticipate customer needs and are agile in how we respond. Not only that, when we do deliver, getting it right first time is a priority.

Customers expect their service providers to be on top of things. They are entitled to:

• rely on the advice we provide

• have information they require provided to them in a timely way

• be given information that is relevant to their circumstances and useful to their needs.

Having sound processes and procedures in place ensures decision making is robust, consistent and reflects the long-term best interests of our customers.

Some aspects of service delivery are non­negotiable: safety; compliance with regulated standards for water quality, environmental protection and customer service; and the safe and secure treatment of all information with which we are entrusted.

Other areas present an opportunity for processes and procedures to help us stand out from the pack through the quality of our analysis and decision making which is reflected in:

• the way in which we use ‘big data’ to develop insights into our customers and business practices – quality analysis cannot proceed without access to quality data

• the robustness of the business cases that support business initiatives – prospectively significant project expenditure is subject to fair and accurate assessment of all reasonable options

• the nature of our response to evolution in our customer base – delivery of required infrastructure and service capability in a timely and cost-effective manner.

With the best will in the world we may still get things wrong, and we learn from our mistakes. Honest and robust post-implementation reviews are conducted, and we have the discipline to revise relevant processes and procedures where shortcomings are identified.

Risk is responsibly managed

We live and breathe safety – for our people, for our contractors, for the community – there is nothing that is more important. This philosophy is reflected in our operational processes.

The ongoing financial security and integrity of our business is a prerequisite to sustainable delivery of core services. All risks (financial and otherwise) are identified and mitigated with appropriate control systems – identification, assessment and review of corporate level risks is ongoing.

The environment is protected

Environmental protection is paramount. We play an important role by:

• ensuring the safe and secure management of potentially environmentally harmful wastewater through optimisation of our water treatment and disposal strategies and infrastructure

• responsibly managing the resource intensity of the services we deliver – for example, minimising waste to landfill

• requiring our contractors to optimise their environmental performance and minimise their environmental impact

• wherever possible improving the outcomes for the environment in which we operate.

20

Success is built on …

Standards for water quality, environmental protection and customer service are met or exceeded

Our processes and practices ensure we meet or exceed all regulated standards established for:

• delivery of fit-for-purpose water and wastewater infrastructure and services – as monitored by the Department of Health and Human Services

• the environmental values to be protected in Victoria and the environmental quality objectives required to protect beneficial uses of environmental assets – as monitored by the Environment Protection Authority Victoria

• customer service – as monitored by the Essential Services Commission and the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria.

In addition, we:

• ensure we meet national standards when building, operating and maintaining services and assets – as administered by Standards Australia

• gain and maintain relevant International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifications.

The power of data is harnessed

We exploit the opportunities that larger and enriched data sets offer, providing insights into customer behaviours and asset performance through a harnessing of data, allowing us to make informed decisions that add value to: our customers’ lives and business operations; our community; the environment; and stakeholder interests.

In managing the increasing volumes of data available to use, and turning the data into actionable information, our processes ensure:

• the quality of data collected through appropriate governance of structured and unstructured data – quality assurance instead of quality control

• the right tools and skills to manage and analyse available data – understanding the outcomes we are trying to drive.

In moving toward the opportunities presented by ‘big data’, we remain mindful of:

• opportunities to partner with others and share datasets for mutual benefit

• the privacy of the parties from whom data is collected

• advancement of technologies that change the risk profile of data management – how and where data is stored and managed or accessed.

Decision making is supported by robust business cases

To deliver the best possible value to our customers and to maximise the affordability of our services, implementation of substantive change is supported by: robust business cases; and appropriate empowerment that allows informed decision making.

Business cases use relevant data and insightful analysis that fairly and accurately assess all reasonable options and incorporate consideration of the long-term costs and benefits to customers.

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Success is built on …

Streamlined delivery (continued)

Growth and evolution in our customer base is supported

Our customer base is subject to continual change:

• residential development in our service area is occurring at a rate faster than anywhere else in Victoria – both greenfields and brownfields development place new demand on our infrastructure

• we have the largest concentration of commercial and industrial customers of any Victorian water business and the service requirements for these customers are continually evolving.

We are agile performers, responsive to customer needs and a changing world. Change is an opportunity to service customers in a way that enhances growth and adds value through integrated water management. Our processes and practices are well understood and executed by our people to ensure we deliver our services in a timely manner.

Customers’ needs are met responsively and sensitively

Not only do our customers have very diverse backgrounds, they also expect to be able to deal with us in ways that are accessible to them. We remain mindful of these diverse backgrounds and deliver our services in a way that all customers can access as required.

Where cases of genuine hardship are identified, we do all we can to ensure they are aware of all support services available to them and they can access their full suite of entitlements.

We respect the right of customers to express views that are contrary to our own. We are resilient to challenge or change and we move on. Where we identify a problem, we fix it quickly. If the problem shows any sign of being systemic, we revise our policies, procedures and practices as necessary.

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Brendan Vanos Standards and Design City West Water

“We know what we do is important for our customers.”

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Martin Synan Racecourse and Facilities Manager, Moonee Valley Racing Club

“Our water consumption has dropped by more than 36 million litres per year. City West Water has been integral to our journey to water efficiency at Moonee Valley.”

Success is built on …

Great partnerships

“Our relationships with stakeholders embody the trusted position we hold”

We are in a position to positively contribute to the lives of our customers, the communities we serve and the industry we are part of. We understand that the key to unlocking this potential is through the development of great partnerships with all our stakeholders – which include residential customers, business customers, developers, contractors, the plumbing industry, government (State and local), community organisations and educational institutions.

Our relationships with stakeholders embody the trusted position we hold. We are respected for the quality of our analysis and the judgements we make. Combined with our integrity we have become sought after partners who are easy to work with.

We add value to our customers’ lives and business operations

We seek to develop intelligent water networks. We are open to assisting customers improve their management of water and wastewater through waste minimisation and resource recovery. Residential, business and developer customers place value in our knowledge and respect our ability to add value to their lives and business operations.

We partner in climate change mitigation

Significant reductions in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are required to avoid dangerous and irreversible climate change. The Victorian water industry and City West Water have a major role to play in Victoria’s contribution in the global response to climate change outlined in the Paris Agreement.

Although City West Water is a relatively small contributor to the GHG emissions of the water industry as a whole, as an organisation we are committed to reducing our own direct emissions to net zero. However, through partnering with other water authorities and stakeholders we play an even greater role in reducing emissions. We work towards increasing Victoria’s generation of renewable energy, promoting energy efficiency and identifying carbon sequestration opportunities. We take advantage of technology and water industry knowledge to deliver high level customer services that have net zero GHG emissions.

We provide support for healthy trees and thriving community spaces

Without water, trees and vegetation cannot thrive. As custodians of water resources we work with others to support tree canopy coverage that shades and cools our suburbs. We provide support for vegetation that provides a full range of ecosystem services to contribute to a truly liveable city, such as: air quality improvements; carbon-dioxide storage; improved habitat; and stormwater and catchment benefits.

Green urban environments including parks and gardens offer low-cost preventive strategies to improve community health, reduce heat stress, increase amenity and foster social cohesion – we acknowledge these very real benefits. We also acknowledge and honour community expectations that these spaces are supplied with water to maintain their usefulness and value.

Knowledge exchange with stakeholders is a two-way street

We value the benefits provided to us through great partnerships that help us develop and thrive. Partnerships offer the opportunity to listen and reflect and we know that there are many things we can learn from the experience of others. We value insights into our business that suggest better ways of working for the benefit of our customers.

We are also a trusted counsel in all facets of integrated water management and, through our advice, we seek to add value to the activities of our partners – contractors, the plumbing industry, government (State and local), community organisations and educational institutions.

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Success is built on …

Purposeful leadership

“We identify the areas in which we can add value and we are prepared to take the lead”

We keep our finger on the pulse, we anticipate the needs of business, the community and the environment. We identify the areas in which we can add value and we are prepared to take the lead – providing insights, marshalling resources, and offering timely solutions where standing back might otherwise lead to outcomes that are second best.

We find the ‘sweet spots’ where our expertise is valued

We know what we know and understand where our experience, expertise and analysis can be effectively applied.

We respectfully offer to assist where we see opportunities to improve outcomes within our areas of influence. We leverage our knowledge, share our insights – born of experience, expertise and robust analysis – and partner with other stakeholders for the benefit of our customers and the community.

We lead in climate adaptation

Despite global action to reduce GHG emissions, Melbourne will continue to be affected by climate change. As a leader in climate adaptation City West Water is committed to understanding and proactively responding to these changes and how they impact our services, customers and the broader community.

We are committed to building a shared understanding with our customers and stakeholders of the impacts and potential responses to climate change. Population growth and changes in climate present significant challenges to Melbourne’s liveability. As an adaptation leader we do not merely maintain the liveability of our community in the face of climate change, but improve it.

As a leader in climate adaptation we ensure our assets and services are resilient to projected changes in climate. Utilising the latest climate science we understand the potential impacts on our services and the community and take action to reduce or eliminate those risks. Where the risks to our assets and services are influenced by other stakeholders, we work collaboratively to deliver customer-driven solutions.

We are influential in creating a better functioning water industry

The water and wastewater infrastructure we manage are just part of the interconnected sets of State-wide and Melbourne metropolitan infrastructure.

In helping to shift the industry towards best practice, we value opportunities to share our knowledge and resources. We appreciate the experience held by others.

We willingly participate in coordination of planning activities because of the greater benefits to the Victorian community that can arise where:

• some planning activities, particularly on the boundary of our service area, can be more cost-effectively undertaken jointly

• projects undertaken outside the control of City West Water require adjustment to the configuration of our assets

• longer-term access to an efficiently planned and delivered state-wide water grid can affect the water security of xall Victorians.

We lead the conversation on community water literacy

We are well placed to lead the conversation with our customers and community to promote their understanding of where water comes from as well as how it is, and can be, used. With this knowledge, community members are empowered to make choices about the appliances employed in their homes and businesses and the amount of water they use.

Our work in this area ensures our customers are part of the conversation about important decisions for Melbourne’s water future. Water saving is a journey, more efficient ways of using this precious resource are still emerging and the conversation is ongoing.

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Bruce Light “I’m passionate about this Yarraville Resident and President, Yarraville community and committed to on the Nose seeing a healthy environment

for generations to come.”

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Tu Anh Duong Florist, Footscray

“When running a business and putting your best foot forward each day, the last thing you should be worrying about is utilities. I need to know water supply is reliable.”

Success is built on …

Extensive knowledge of the water cycle

“Our knowledge of the water cycle is used to assist our partners and to engage in purposeful industry leadership”

The urban water cycle is the journey of water from its collection through rainwater and runoff in our supply catchments to its return to the natural water cycle as treated effluent from sewage treatment plants. Rainwater from gutters and drains travels through the stormwater system into rivers and creeks and eventually back into Port Phillip. Recycled water, treated from our sewage treatment plants can be used to irrigate farms and parks, flushing toilets and some industrial processes.

Integrated water management promotes collaborative planning and management of water, land and related services to maximise economic, social and ecological benefits to the community. Our knowledge of the water cycle is used to assist our partners and to engage in purposeful industry leadership.

The liveability of Greater Melbourne is a shared responsibility

The water and wastewater services City West Water provides to its customers are fundamental to maintaining the liveability of Greater Melbourne. Water is used by our customers for consumption and other domestic purposes; in economic activities such as manufacturing; and to keep our parks and gardens healthy. The sewerage system is managed to protect public health and the environment.

City West Water is a valued collaborator with stakeholders across Melbourne in integrated water management initiatives. Targeted application of our water cycle knowledge provides opportunities to use all forms of water (including aquifers, stormwater, sewage and trade waste) as resources that

can be managed for beneficial community outcomes. Using these resources as close as possible to their source has the added benefit of helping to avoid expensive augmentation of bulk treatment facilities. We also help explore the best solutions to achieving waterway health and flood protection outcomes.

Diversity of water resources will help meet the challenges ahead

We play a crucial and influential role in collaboration with our water industry peers, government, industry and the community in ensuring long term water security for our customers and community. Diversifying water supply resources is a key part of our strategy in securing our long term water future. As population grows and the climate changes, more and more of the existing sources of potable supply will need to be directed towards the higher valued uses of drinking and cooking.

We need to be more flexible in how we allocate available supplies of potable water across Victoria – City West Water has entitlements in rainfall dependent water reservoirs in Melbourne’s nearby catchments, but also entitlements north of the divide in the Murray River system and from the rainfall independent desalination plant.

To enhance the resilience of our water supplies we must continue to assess the viability of alternative sources of water for application to purposes where potable water is not essential – for example, toilet flushing, washing, industrial processes, irrigation and environmental flows.

Water efficiency is a key contributor to resource optimisation

Reduced water usage need not compromise the benefits that water provides. Improving the efficiency of water usage is often a cost-effective way to reduce the cost of producing, transferring and treating water and wastewater.

Continually challenging the norms of efficient water usage and developing better and better water usage practices is an essential tool in extracting the greatest possible value from existing sources of water – efficiency preserves precious resources and reduces customer bills below the level they might otherwise be.

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Pathway to 2030 Our vision

“To be an exceptional service provider that puts customers first and benefits the community.”

Our ambition

“Customer value is at the heart of all we do.

We are passionate about community liveability and wellbeing. ”

Our people

“Agile. Diverse. Trusted.”

Dynamic technology

Streamlined delivery

2030 ROUTE

Purposeful leadership

Achievement culture

Great partnerships

Extensive knowledge of the water cycle