The majority of the rural system was established in the 1870s to supply water for mining and town use in the Bendigo Goldfields.

Sections of the rural system have previously been modernised; however, the majority of the system still runs with the same footprint and infrastructure as it did when it was built in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The local Bendigo community and its stakeholders have long supported the ambition to upgrade the rural system to an efficient and reliable piped water delivery system. However, the complexity of upgrading the system has impeded efforts to modernise it and as a result the system in the largest remaining unmodernised open channel water supply system in Victoria.

There is link to the right which provides more detail about Joseph Brady and the history of the development of the Coliban system of water works.