Transcript WESTERPORT WATER - Essential Services Commission

WESTERNPORT WATER
COMMUNITY CONSULTATION
WATER PLAN 2008 – 2013
In Confidence
Agenda
• Workshop objectives
• Group “rules”
• Water plan overview
• Consultation process
This workshop provides a landscape view to
gain your feedback.
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Group “rules”
• You are here as representatives of your community
• No right or wrong answers
• Everyone must have a chance to contribute to the
discussion
• All records of the group and reports will be de-identified,
i.e. individual names will not appear on any
documentation
• Group duration = 2 hours
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Workshop objectives
• Gather customer feedback
• Help formalise plans for 2008-2013
• Explore in greater detail issues raised in telephone
survey
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Water Plan overview
• The final Water Plan will be submitted to the Essential
Service Commission (ESC) in September
 Covers period 2008-2013
 Sets service standards
 Sets prices
• The ESC also expects Water Plans to detail the
consultations undertaken
 Customers and the community
 Regulators
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Water Plan
• Draft Water Plan to be submitted 1 May
2007
– DSE
– EPA
– DHS
– Open for further community feedback
• Purpose today is gather Community input
towards development of the Draft Plan.
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Community Consultation Process
Development of Draft Water Plan
• Telephone survey completed in March
 random sample 200 customers
• On-line feedback survey
 Currently available
 www.westernportwater.com.au
 Open until 10 April
• Community Forums
 28 and 31 March
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The Water Plan will cover
• Pricing
 Step tariffs
 Lower the service charge and raise the volumetric
charge
• Water supply security
 Options to improve supply
 Costing of these options
• Water quality
 Options to improve quality
 Costing of these options
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Water pricing
• Water pricing is made up of two components:
 Service charge – relating to infrastructure
 Volumetric charge – actual water used
• WPW is considering options for pricing that…
 Are fair to all customers
– Permanent
– Non permanent
 Consider affordability issues
 Support customer awareness of water usage
 Recovers enough to run the business
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Water pricing - issues
• Customer base
 60% non permanent residents
 40% permanent residents
• Pipes and pumps sized for peak
 Underutilised for majority or year
• Need to recover full cost plus future cost
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Water pricing - options
Option 0 – Status quo Service charge with volumetric charge
Option 1 - Step tariff structure with affordable first tariff block
• This system would result in high water users paying a higher
premium for water
• This structure would only apply to domestic customers, not
commercial who are often higher water users
Option 2 - Lower the service charge raise volumetric charges
• Applies to domestic and commercial/ rural customers
• Overseas experience is that low-income households are
much more likely to have below average water consumption
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Water pricing options –
customer feedback
What do you think?
• How do you rate Option 0?
• How do you rate Option 1?
• How do you rate Option 2?
1 = Poor
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•
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•
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10 = Excellent
What are the advantages of Option 1?
What are the advantages of Option 2?
Are there any other options WPW should consider?
Which option do you prefer?
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Water supply security
Managing supply demand balance
Water Supply
Certainty
Demand
Steady at
2000 Ml
Now
Very uncertain
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Water supply security - options
WPW is considering 4 options to secure the water supply
1.
Continue to use our current reservoir (Candowie
Reservoir) with groundwater and the Bass River
2.
Extend Candowie Reservoir – in the short term
3.
Extend Candowie Reservoir – in the long term
4.
Melbourne Water connection
Note: All of these options will come with a cost to the consumer
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Water supply security - options
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Option 1 – continue to use Candowie reservoir with
groundwater and the Bass River
Involves obtaining…
 1.6 Gl from aquifer
 1 Gl from Bass River
Environmental impact
Reliability of bore uncertain
Relies on rainfall
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Water supply security - options
Option 2 – Option 1 plus extend Candowie Reservoir
 In the short term this would yield an additional 500Ml
Option 3 – extend Candowie Reservoir
 Double the Reservoir capacity
 Raise the reservoir wall
 Cost: $15 Million
 Additional land would need to be purchased
 10% increase in accounts
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Water supply security
Option 4 – Connect to Melbourne
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2200 million litres per year
Pipeline and pumping
Relies on water availability
Slow recovery of Melb system
Large scale desalinisation possible
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Water security supply –
customer feedback
What do you think?
• How do you rate Option 1?
• How do you rate Option 2?
• How do you rate Option 3?
• How do you rate Option 4?
1 = Poor
-
10 = Excellent
Which option do you prefer?
Why?
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Water Quality - background
In the telephone survey…
• 66% said taste was the main aspect WPW should focus
on but
• 67% did not want to pay for improvement
WPW is considering 3 options to improve water quality
1. Improve the treatment process.
2. Increase the levels of flushing and pipe cleaning
3. Provide and maintain filters at customers houses
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Water Quality - options
Option 1 – Improved treatment
• Capital works
• Improves water quality entering system
Option 2 – Flushing and pipe cleaning
• Removes stale water from system
• Increases customer interruptions
Option 3 – On-site filter
• Optional for customers who are willing to pay
• WPW maintains filter
• Removes taste and odour
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Water Quality - customer feedback
What do you think?
• How do you rate Option 1?
• How do you rate Option 2?
• How do you rate Option 3?
1 = Poor
-
10 = Excellent
• Are they viable options?
• Do you have a preference?
• Would you support any of these initiatives if they resulted in a
price increase?
In Confidence
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