Greater Western Water
Greater Western Water is a Victorian government-owned regulated water corporation serving 580,000+ customers across Melbourne's western region with drinking water, sewerage, recycled water, and trade waste services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersSunbury, Australia
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Greater Western Water does
Greater Western Water (GWW) is a Victorian government-owned regulated water corporation that provides drinking water, sewerage, trade waste management, and recycled water services across Melbourne's western suburbs, including Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Melton, Wyndham, Moonee Valley, and the Macedon Ranges. Formed in 2021 through the merger of Western Water and City West Water, the company serves more than 580,000 customers and approximately 1.43 million Victorians as the sole licensed water utility in its franchise area under the Water Industry Act 1994, with pricing regulated by the Essential Services Commission.
GWW's core operations rest on physical water and wastewater infrastructure: water treatment and distribution mains, sewerage networks, the Melton Recycled Water Plant, the Gisborne Recycled Water Plant, and stormwater management assets. The utility cleans approximately 800 kilometres of water mains annually via air scouring, runs an active capital works pipeline (Bald Hill Tank, Romsey Water Filtration Plant, Elizabeth Street sewer upgrade, Werribee Open Range Zoo recycled water pipeline, Royal Parade water main renewal), and is expanding the Melton plant at a cost of AUD 70 million to supply recycled water for industrial use, including the AWS Cobblebank data centre — Victoria's first such agreement. The customer-facing product layer includes the My GWW online account portal, the Property Plus development application platform, the WaterSmart business efficiency tool, an Outage Map for fault reporting, and trade waste management services with risk-ranked pricing for commercial customers.
Revenue is generated through regulated subscription-style charges: fixed water and sewerage network fees per property plus tiered volumetric usage charges billed quarterly to residential and business customers, usage-based fees for trade waste (with risk-ranked application and annual management fees) and recycled water, and transaction-style developer contributions and new connection charges. Customers access service through a multi-channel mix — online portal, extended-hours phone and SMS, webchat, face-to-face Customer Care Days, and offices in Footscray and Sunbury — with concession rebates, utility relief grants, and hardship programs serving as affordability mechanisms. Recent execution has been mixed: a 2024 $103.7 million billing system implementation generated approximately $150 million in billing errors and resulted in an ESC enforceable undertaking, while 2026 has delivered strategic partnerships with AWS, Jacobs-Stantec, AECOM-Aurecon (Thrive), and Guidera O'Connor that point toward an expanded role in industrial water reuse and infrastructure delivery.
Greater Western Water firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Greater Western Water
- Legal name
- Greater Western Water
- Website
- https://westernwater.com.au
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Greater Western Water is a Victorian government-owned regulated water corporation serving 580,000+ customers across Melbourne's western region with drinking water, sewerage, recycled water, and trade waste services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Greater Western Water industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Water Utility Services
- NAICS
- Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213), Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Sewage Treatment Facilities (22132)
- SIC
- Water Supply (4941), Sanitary Services (4950)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Water Supply & Wastewater Utilities Administration (BPAIACAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Treatment & Wet-Weather Capacity (EUANADAF), Stormwater Management & MS4 Compliance Services (BPALAMAL)
Keywords
Where Greater Western Water is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sunbury
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices2 records
Markets served
Greater Western Water business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Water Supply Charges: GWW charges residential and business customers for water supply through a combination of fixed network fees (annual service charges) and volumetric usage charges based on kilolitres consumed. Pricing differs between central region (former City West Water) and western region (former Western Water) service areas.
- Sewerage Services: Charges for sewerage network access and sewage disposal services, including fixed network fees and volumetric disposal fees for business customers.
- Trade Waste Management: Fees for industrial and food business trade waste agreements, including application processing fees, annual management fees, and volumetric/quality charges based on biochemical oxygen demand, nitrogen, and suspended solids. Risk-ranked pricing from rank 1 (highest risk) to rank 5 (lowest risk).
- Recycled Water: Separate purple meter recycled water services for irrigation and non-potable uses, with network fees and usage charges lower than drinking water.
- Developer Contributions and Property Charges: Charges for new property connections, developer services, and special meter reads. Includes infrastructure contributions from development growth to fund network expansion.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Quarterly | Residential Central Region (former City West Water) - Water and Sewerage |
| Subscription | Quarterly | Residential Western Region (former Western Water) - Water and Sewerage |
| Subscription | Quarterly | Business/Commercial Central Region |
| Subscription | Quarterly | Concession and Support Programs |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
Greater Western Water product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Greater Western Water is a Victorian government-owned water corporation that provides drinking water supply, sewerage services, and recycled water distribution to residential and commercial customers across Melbourne's western region. The utility operates treatment plants, water mains, sewer networks, and stormwater infrastructure, and additionally offers trade waste management, water carting, developer connection services, and a digital customer portal (My GWW).
Product overview
Greater Western Water is a regional water utility serving Melbourne's western region, formed in 2021 by bringing together Western Water and City West Water. The company operates a unified product portfolio combining essential water and wastewater utility services with digital customer engagement tools. Core services include drinking water supply, wastewater collection and treatment, and recycled water distribution, while the digital product suite centers on My GWW (customer account portal) and Property Plus (development application platform), supplemented by WaterSmart for business water efficiency and an Outage Map for fault reporting. The company also provides specialized services including trade waste management for commercial customers and water carting for areas without piped connections.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Drinking Water Supply
Quantifiable outcome
- Customer Care Days achieved 90% satisfaction rating
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Greater Western Water
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Greater Western Water technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Greater Western Water partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Hobsons Bay City CouncilminorHobsons Bay City Council secured $2.4 million combined funding including $1.45M from GWW for the Cherry Lake Stormwater Harvest project. The project will capture 48 million megalitres of stormwater annually from Cherry Lake, treat it, and use it to irrigate local sporting grounds, generating estimated savings of $150,000 per year in water costs.
- Guidera O'ConnorminorGuidera O'Connor is the contractor engaged for the AUD 70 million expansion of GWW's Melton Recycled Water Plant, which will supply recycled water to AWS's upcoming data centre.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreAWS signed a recycled water supply agreement with GWW to supply its planned data center in western Melbourne with recycled water for cooling. This is the first such agreement in Victoria. The data centre, planned for a 13.2-hectare site in Cobblebank approximately 40km west of Melbourne's centre, is estimated to cost $50 million and will receive recycled water from the Melton Recycled Water Plant. The deal supports AWS's global goal to return more water than it consumes by 2030.
- Jacobs-Stantec Joint VenturecoreGWW appointed the Jacobs-Stantec joint venture as engineering services partner for a five-year Infrastructure Planning and Delivery Program in Melbourne's western region. The integrated team will deliver critical water and sewer infrastructure including treatment plants and dams, to address population growth projected to more than double the region's needs by 2050. The partnership builds on Jacobs' existing eight-year role as GWW's engineering and delivery partner.
- Thrive (AECOM-Aurecon Joint Venture)coreGWW appointed the Thrive joint venture (formed by AECOM and Aurecon) as its strategic five-year planning partner to shape infrastructure investments serving communities in Melbourne's western suburbs. The partnership will develop sustainable solutions addressing rapid growth, climate change, and cost-of-living pressures across network, treatment, and dam assets.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Greater Western Water competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- SA Water: South Australian government-owned water utility providing water and wastewater services across the state. Comparable vertically integrated regulated utility with similar customer segments (residential, commercial, trade waste, developers).
- Water Corporation (WA): Western Australian government-owned integrated water utility providing water, wastewater, drainage and irrigation services across WA. Comparable full-service regulated utility model; operates across a vast geography including Perth metro and remote communities.
- Sydney Water: New South Wales government-owned water utility serving Greater Sydney — Australia's largest water utility by customers. Comparable regulated monopoly business model and full water/wastewater/recycled water service stack, though substantially larger in scale.
Direct peers
- Melbourne Water: Victorian government-owned bulk water authority responsible for storage, treatment and delivery of wholesale water and management of waterways across Greater Melbourne. Directly comparable in regulated monopoly model and is the upstream supplier to GWW and other retailers.
- Yarra Valley Water: The other Melbourne metropolitan water utility, also Victorian government-owned and ESC-regulated, providing drinking water, sewerage and recycled water to Melbourne's northern/eastern growth corridors. Highly comparable in business model, regulatory framework, customer mix and digital customer portal approach.
- South East Water: Victorian government-owned water utility serving Melbourne's south-east growth corridor. Operates under the same Water Industry Act 1994 framework with ESC oversight, offering water, sewerage and recycled water services to a comparable residential/commercial/industrial customer mix.
Regional players
- North East Water: Victorian government-owned regional water corporation serving north-east Victoria (Wangaratta, Wodonga, surrounding areas). Comparable regulated utility operating model, with a more rural customer base than GWW's growth-corridor footprint.
- Hunter Water: NSW government-owned water utility serving the Hunter Region (Newcastle/Lake Macquarie). Comparable regional water/sewerage utility with a growth-corridor customer base and similar regulatory framework to GWW, though under NSW rather than Victorian oversight.
- Coliban Water: Victorian government-owned regional water corporation serving central and northern Victoria (Bendigo, Echuca, surrounding areas). Comparable in business model as a regional ESC-regulated water/sewerage utility but operates in a less densely populated geography than GWW.
- Unitywater: Queensland government-owned water utility serving the Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast regions north of Brisbane. Comparable in operating a fast-growing urban fringe service area with water, wastewater and recycled water services and similar developer contribution model.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Greater Western Water social profiles
Digital presenceGreater Western Water financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Greater Western Water leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Greater Western Water funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Greater Western Water M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Greater Western Water
What does Greater Western Water do?
Greater Western Water is a Victorian government-owned water corporation that provides drinking water supply, sewerage services, and recycled water distribution to residential and commercial customers across Melbourne's western region. The utility operates treatment plants, water mains, sewer networks, and stormwater infrastructure, and additionally offers trade waste management, water carting, developer connection services, and a digital customer portal (My GWW).
Is Greater Western Water a public or private company?
Greater Western Water is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was Greater Western Water founded?
Greater Western Water was founded in 2021. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Greater Western Water based?
Greater Western Water is headquartered in Sunbury, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does Greater Western Water make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Water Supply Charges are the primary driver. The others are sewerage Services, trade Waste Management, recycled Water and developer Contributions and Property Charges.
Who are Greater Western Water's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are SA Water, Water Corporation (WA) and Sydney Water. Direct peers are Melbourne Water, Yarra Valley Water and South East Water. Regional players are North East Water, Hunter Water, Coliban Water and Unitywater.
Does Greater Western Water have an API?
No public API is recorded for Greater Western Water.
What industry is Greater Western Water in?
Greater Western Water's product category is Water Utility Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIACAG, Water Supply & Wastewater Utilities Administration, with a secondary code of EUANADAF, Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Treatment & Wet-Weather Capacity. Its NAICS code is 2213 and its SIC code is 4941.