Greater Western Water recognised across Victorian Water Awards

Greater Western Water (GWW) is a finalist in two categories of the Australian Water Association's Victorian Water Awards, which recognise excellence, innovation and outstanding achievement across the water industry. 

GWW’s Future State Maintenance Delivery Model has been shortlisted in the Organisational Excellence category while Adam Heaton, GWW’s Developer Relationship and Reporting Lead, is a finalist for the Young Water Professional of the Year award. 

GWW has also been recognised through two collaborative finalist entries with other water industry organisations, highlighting the strength of partnerships across the sector. 

The Victorian Awards event will be held on Thursday, 8 October, at the Melbourne Museum. To view all the finalists, visit the 2026 VIC Water Awards finalists page. 

Organisational Excellence: Future State Maintenance Delivery Model 

The Future State Maintenance Delivery Model transformed the way maintenance services are delivered across GWW’s service region by bringing critical customer-facing maintenance activities in-house. 

Implemented following the integration of City West Water and Western Water and the expiry of a major maintenance contract, the initiative established a single, consistent maintenance delivery model across GWW’s central and western regions. 

The model has strengthened operational oversight, improved visibility of faults and emergencies, and helped deliver a more consistent and reliable service to customers from Melbourne’s CBD to the Macedon Ranges. 

It expanded GWW’s in-house capability, giving our teams greater involvement and direct control of critical field activities including fault response, maintenance and field operations while building a valuable state of knowledge of the way our assets operate. 

The expansion of GWW’s in-house field team by 40 per cent has helped build one of the most comprehensive internal field services capabilities among Victorian water authorities. 

The initiative has established a strong foundation for improved responsiveness, customer experience and long-term value for customers and communities. 

Young Water Professional of the Year: Adam Heaton 

As Developer Relationship and Reporting Lead in Asset Planning and Delivery, Adam works with developers, government and water-sector colleagues to support sustainable growth across Melbourne’s west.

His work brings together stakeholder engagement, infrastructure planning and liveability outcomes across our communities, with a recent focus on the challenges and opportunities presented by data centres and other large water users.

Adam’s nomination recognises his leadership in bringing people together to solve complex servicing challenges, including coordinating the sector’s response with the State Government on data centre growth.

Adam’s broader industry contribution includes chairing the Association of Land Development Engineers (ALDE) Young Engineers in Land Development Committee and strengthening collaboration across development services professionals through institutions such as the Institute of Water Administration (IWA).

GWW’s Head of Development Services, Janet Condy said Adam is an exceptional young leader who is making a significant contribution to both GWW and the Victorian water sector. 

“Adam combines strong technical expertise with an ability to bring people together to solve complex challenges and deliver practical outcomes for customers and communities,” she said.

Adam said being recognised as a finalist was a proud and personally meaningful milestone. 

“It gives me an opportunity to reflect on my contribution and acknowledge the colleagues, mentors and industry partners who have supported and challenged me along the way,” he said.

“Much of what we achieve in water depends on people working together, and I see this recognition as reflecting that collective effort. It strengthens my commitment to keep contributing to a sector that makes a lasting difference to our communities.”