We've completed the Bourke Street and McIlwraith Place water main renewal ahead of schedule.

The replacement of the old water mains in this area means we can continue to reliably supply drinking water to our city customers.

Thank you to our CBD community, we really appreciated your patience and understanding throughout the works.

Browse this page to learn more about the project.

The Bourke Street and McIlwraith Place water main renewal is an essential, proactive infrastructure upgrade that will support the needs of our growing city for years to come.

The project will install 305 metres of new water main along Bourke Street and McIlwraith Place in Melbourne’s CBD. The new pipe will replace the existing water mains which were built between 1896 and 1940 and are reaching the end of their operational life.

Works will commence in late July 2021 and take approximately 14 weeks to complete, followed by permanent reinstatement works. Renewals experts Downer will be delivering the works for Greater Western Water.

We are committed to working with our customers and key stakeholders to keep construction impacts to a minimum, so we will keep all stakeholders updated on the project’s progress.

The Bourke Street project is part of our CBD Network Renewals program, which is upgrading ageing water and sewer assets across Melbourne’s CBD to ensure we continue to deliver safe and secure services to our customers and community.