Data centres
Protecting water security. Supporting responsible growth. Planning for the future.
Data centres power many of the digital services we use every day, including websites, apps, banking, healthcare, artificial intelligence and video streaming. As demand for these services grows, we’re responding to increasing data centre development across our service region.
Like any new development, we carefully assess their water needs to help maintain reliable supplies for our customers and communities. Our role is to plan ahead and ensure data centres don't impact water security in our growing service region.
The Victorian Government has developed guidelines on how the water sector is planning for growing demand from large water users.
Our approach aligns with the Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan and Industry water connection guide. These guidelines set out how the Victorian water sector will manage increasing demand from data centres while protecting long-term water security.
How we assess new proposals
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We closely assess water demand to ensure that water security for the wider community is maintained. All data centre applicants must provide detailed information about their expected water use. They must also outline how they’ll save water and use alternative water sources.
We expect data centres to prioritise use of recycled water where possible. Our recycled water plant in Melton is set to become the first in Victoria to deliver recycled water to a data centre. Where recycled or alternative water sources are not available, we carefully assess potable water demand to ensure it can be supplied without impacting water security for our customers and communities.
We serve one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia, so planning for growth is a core part of what we do. We're working closely with the Victorian government to understand future data centre demand, assess whether our water networks can support it and plan water infrastructure where it's needed.
Data centres, like other new major customers, are required to fully fund the water infrastructure needed to service their facilities. Where their demand requires upgrades to the wider water network sooner than planned, they also contribute to those costs. This ensures the costs of new developments are not passed on to our customers.
