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We’re ready to make a change

As our region continues to change and grow, we know the demand for water and sewer services will steadily increase. That’s why we’re preparing for the future now and committing to a more sustainable approach.

The process of delivering water and sewage services to our region is energy intensive and we have a responsibility to our planet, and current and future customers, to ensure we are adapting our operations for our changing climate.

Our commitment

Our pathway to net zero is our plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

Thanks to a combination of carbon reduction offset projects that will maximise our land and assets for carbon sequestration, investment in renewable energy, the purchase of green power, and one-percenters like transitioning our fleet to electric vehicles, we’re on track to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

As well as reducing emissions, it also makes good business sense by reducing our operating costs over time. As a customer-funded organisation, we know that’s important.

100% renewable by 2025

An increased investment in renewable energy sources is an essential part of our carbon journey.

We’ve set ourselves the target of shifting to 100% renewable energy by 2025. Once achieved our carbon emissions will be reduced by 90%.

Climate resilience is now a key pillar of our corporate strategy and is embedded in everything that we do.

We're in a race to net zero

Find out how we are taking action:

  • Carbon reduction

    We’re planting native tree species on Coliban Water-owned land to create carbon sequestration offsets, which are used to offset our emissions.

  • Future innovations

    Climate resilience is now a key pillar of our corporate strategy and we’ll continue to investigate opportunities across our region:

    • How might hydrogen and pumped-hydro be part of our future renewable energy mix?
    • We’re investigating renewable energy production using hydroelectric technology at Lake Eppalock.
  • Transitioning our vehicle fleet

    We’re exploring all opportunities including switching our staff vehicle fleet to electric.


We're well on our way

Delivering water and sewage services is an energy-intensive process. That’s why we’ve been working to reduce our carbon emissions for many years.

We’ve made good progress already through a range of innovative projects and partnerships, which combined are creating our pathway to net zero emissions.

Our emission reduction plan

In 2030, we will have reduced annual carbon emissions by 33,694 tonnes.* The equivalent of removing 12,000 cars from Victoria's roads.

Carbon emissions reduction chart

Circular economy

As our climate changes and becomes drier, we are improving how we reclaim and reuse the by-products of our wastewater, particularly biosolids and recycled water.

We’re embedding circular design into new infrastructure and finding innovative ways to add value to 'waste' streams.

Learn more

Collaborating with our community

In July 2022, we were proud to be a founding-member of the Greater Bendigo Climate Collaboration, to bring local businesses, community organisations, households and schools together for three years of climate change action.

The launch of the city’s pathway to zero climate-changing emissions by 2030 was launched at the Greater Bendigo Climate Summit in May 2023.





*From the average annual emissions for the five-year period from 1 July 2011 to 30 July 2016 calculated in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (t CO2e)