Water Quality Monitoring
How frequently does water quality monitoring take place?
Melbourne Water conducts water quality monitoring at 136 sites along rivers and creeks in the Port Phillip and Westernport region. We have been monitoring 72 of these sites for the past 10 years and the remaining 64 monitoring sites were added in line with our boundary expansion to include Upper Werribee, Maribyrnong, western Mornington Peninsula and Bass.
How do we use water quality monitoring data?
Our water quality monitoring program is designed to assess broad-scale, long-term trends in water quality (typically over eight to 10 years).
It is also used to assess progress against State Environmental Protection Policy (SePP) objectives, which are established and monitored by the Environment Protection Authority Victoria.
This information complements more intensive and finer-scale river health surveys that contribute to the development of waterway management plans and other waterway protection and improvement decisions. Environment Protection Authority Victoria audits and approves changes to the water quality monitoring network.
What is tested?
Sites are sampled monthly, and tested for the following water quality indicators:
- water temperature
- dissolved oxygen
- salinity (conductivity)
- pH level
- nutrients (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, Kjeldahl nitrogen, soluble reactive phosphorus and total phosphorus)
- faecal contamination (E. coli)
- metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc).
Where can I find the results?
We produce a water quality data fact sheet (PDF, 437kb) which provides annual summary statistics for each of the stream monitoring sites. These figures are for the previous calendar year and provide a brief overview of water quality for that year.
See also:
- Water quality reports from previous years the Rivers and Creeks Reports Archive
- Water quality data for Victorian rivers and creeks outside the Port Phillip and Westernport regions at the Water Resources Victorian Data Warehouse
- All other Rivers and Creeks Reports
Is there an annual report or summary?
Water quality data is provided each year in our Social and Environment Report.
You can view the latest report online through the 2007/08 Melbourne Water Social and Environment Report. The data provided in this report has been assessed and collated over the financial year.
What happens with summer monitoring?
We conduct weekly tests during the summer for E. coli and blue-green algae at a number of key locations.
The Environment Protection Authority publishes this data in weekly updates on water quality in the Yarra River on their website: Yarra Watch.
More information
We also provide further information on the condition of the region’s rivers and creeks through:
- Melbourne’s Rivers and Creeks 2004 report (PDF 1.4mb)
- Port Phillip and Westernport Regional River Health strategy, available to download:
- In chapters
- As a single document (PDF 4.38mb)
Further information is available on the Yarra catchment. In January 2006, the Victorian Government released its action plan for the Yarra River which you can download here:
- Yarra River Action Plan (PDF 3.7mb)
Links
- Measuring environmental condition of rivers
- Yarra catchment
- Werribee catchment
- Maribyrnong catchment
- Dandenong catchment
- Westernport catchment
- Rivers and Creeks Reports Archive
- Reports and Plans for our Rivers & Creeks
- Melbourne Water Social and Environment Report 2006/07 online
- Water Resources Victorian Data Warehouse
- Yarra Watch