The Essential Services Commission has approved Greater Western Water's updated prices and charges, which take effect from 1 July 2025.
The prices you pay depend on where you live in our service area – either in the central region or the western region. We are working toward consistent pricing across our entire service area but currently maintain two different sets of prices for customers to ensure stable price changes.
What's changing for 2025-26
If you live in our central region, your average annual household water and sewerage bill will increase by $32, or 3 per cent, including CPI. This is based on a typical household using 150 kilolitres of water per year.
If you live in our western region, your average annual household water and sewerage bill will increase by $15, or 1 per cent including CPI, based on 150 kilolitres of annual usage.
These changes reflect adjustments approved by the Essential Services Commission under our 2024 price determination and account for factors like inflation (measured by CPI) and the cost of maintaining reliable water services across our growing region.
Why do we have different prices across our region?
Greater Western Water was created after City West Water and Western Water joined to form one water service provider. Before this, City West Water and Western Water served our region with different pricing structures.
Our customers told us during engagement for our 2024 price submission that affordability matters and everyone should experience a similar level of service for a fair and similar price, no matter where they live.
To avoid large, sudden changes for customers, we're gradually working to align prices across our entire service area. This gradual approach ensures stable price changes and was approved by the Essential Services Commission through its review of our price submission.
Why are prices changing when there have been issues with our billing?
We understand the disruption some customers have experienced due to technical issues with our system. These annual pricing updates are approved by the Essential Services Commission to ensure long-term investment in water, sewer and customer services.
What your bill pays for
Your water and sewerage bill covers several essential services that keep clean and safe water flowing to your home, and ensure wastewater is properly treated to protect public health and the environment.
Water supply: Part of your bill pays for the water you use, plus the costs of distributing clean and safe drinking water to homes, schools and businesses across our service area through thousands of kilometres of pipes and infrastructure.
Wastewater services: We remove, treat and dispose of wastewater from your home – everything from what you flush down the toilet to what goes down the kitchen sink. This ensures it's treated responsibly to protect public health and the environment.
Infrastructure: We're continually upgrading and building essential infrastructure, including treatment plants, pump stations and thousands of kilometres of water and sewerage pipes to serve our growing region reliably into the future.
Operating costs: Your bill also covers everyday operations like 24/7 emergency repairs, customer service support, and maintaining local waterways, parks and green spaces.
What impacts our prices
Each year, the Essential Services Commission approves adjustments to our prices to reflect changes in the cost of delivering safe and reliable water services.
Inflation is one of the main factors that impacts our prices. Melbourne Water has also changed its prices and these increases are passed through to us. Melbourne Water is responsible for managing much of Melbourne’s drinking water supply and provides 95.5% of the drinking water GWW supplies to customers. The rest of GWW’s water is from our own locally managed sources.
Additionally, our prices reflect the cost of desalinated water orders made by the Victorian Government. The desalination order of 50 billion litres announced by the Victorian Government in April this year safeguards Melbourne's water storages.
These measures ensure we can continue providing reliable water supply even during extended dry periods, protecting water security for our region.
We’re here to help
We understand many customers are facing cost of living pressures right now.
We're here to help if you're having trouble paying your bill. There’s a range of support options for both residential and business customers, including:
flexible payment plans
payment extensions
concessions
support grants
referrals to financial counselling services.
You can find more information online at Financial support or call us on 13 44 99.
