Most of Melbourne's drinking water is sourced from closed water catchments, however water that supplies up to 1,200,000 people is sourced from Sugarloaf Reservoir, which is pumped from the Yarra River at Yering Gorge.

9000+ hectares of the Sugarloaf Water Supply Catchment are heavily sprayed with a range of pesticides, mainly within 20km's of the Yering Gorge offtake.

Above map highlights cropping systems which can be heavily sprayed with a range of pesticides. Dark Green=Vineyards, Light Green=Orchards, Red=Berries, Pink=Nurseries/Cut Flowers, Orange=Potatoes, Tan=Vegetables, Purple=Plantations. For many more Yarra maps and details please go to this webpage.

Land Use (excluding grazing, urban and forestry)above Offtake to Sugarloaf	Approximate Hectares	Number of Agrochemicals Registered in Victoria by Crop Type
Vineyards	3904.3	~110+
Orchards (Apples, Citrus etc)	1549.2	~65-110
Cut Flowers/Nurseries etc	1225.9	?
Potatoes	989.22	~70+
Berries (Strawberries, Rasberries, etc)	936.52	25+
Vegetables	490.37	15-75
Tree Plantations	117.47	~35
Olives	32.94	~10
Total	9244.92

Friends of the Earth estimates that several hundred different types of pesticides could be used in the Yarra River Catchment. Melbourne Water currently test for two pesticides 2,4-D and Atrazine. Testing for Atrazine only began in 2006. Melbourne Water also test for 7 organochlorine pesticides, which may be the result of past spraying.

Why does Melbourne Water only test for two currently used pesticides?

Friends of the Earth estimates that the following pesticides pose the greatest risk to users of drinking water sourced from Sugarloaf. Parathion Methyl, Paraquat, Diquat, Simazine, Chlorpyrifos, Carbaryl, Methomyl.

The main pesticides of concern to health of Yarra River and tributaries would probably be; Mancozeb, Paraquat, Diquat, Maldison, Ethefon, Thiram, Metiram, Pirimicarb, Triclopyr, Methomyl, Ipriodione, Dimethoate, Captan, Endosulfan, Abamectin, Propargite, Azinphos Methyl & Esfenvalerate.

The water treatment used at Sugarloaf is not designed to take out pesticides. Melbourne Water rely on alum to also take out whatever pesticide residues are in the water. Alum supposedly attaches itself to sediment particles, which pesticides may also be attched to. Research in the United States has suggested that alum is next to useless in removing some pesticides from water. Water treatment at Sugarloaf also involves a number of processes: coagulation; clarification; filtration; disinfection; and fluoridation.

So the question remains just what pesticides are being washed into the Yarra River and are they being pumped into Sugarloaf Reservoir. Are they being consumed by Melbournians? Melbournians may never know the answer to these questions.

A Freedom of Information request from Department of Human Services (State Government Victoria) (Incorporating; Health, Community Services, Mental Health, Senior Victorians and Housing)

It said;"The department's Environmental Health Unit has advised that since 1 July 2004, the quality of drinking water in Victoria has been regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act 2003. The state's water businesses are required under this act to notify the department of any incident where the drinking water they supply to the public presents a risk to public health. There are no recorded notifications of instances of pesticide pollution in drinking water supplies for the period 1 July 2004 to 3 January 2008.

For the period 1 January 1998 to 30 June 2004, there were no formal regulatory arrangements in place regarding reporting of incidents in drinking water supplies."

If the pesticides aren't being tested for then who knows if they are there or not? The State Government of Victorian certainly won't know.

Sugarloaf Reservoir provides drinking water to almost 700,000 people in the Melbourne suburbs of; Alphington, Arthurs Creek, Balwyn, Balwyn East, Balwyn North, Banyule, Box Hill North, Briar Hill, Brunswick, Brunswick East, Brunswick West, Bulleen, Bundoora, Burwood, Camberwell, Canterbury, Coburg, Croxton, Deepdene, Diamond Creek, Doncaster, Doreen, Eaglemont, Eltham, Epping, Fairfield, Glen Iris, Greensborough, Greythorn, Hawthorn, Hawthorn East, Heidelberg, Heidelberg Heights, Heidelberg West, Hurstbridge, Ivanhoe, Kangaroo Ground, Keon Park, Kew, Kingsbury, Lalor, Lower Plenty, Maclead, Malvern, Mernda, Mill Park, Mont Albert, Montmorency, Northcote, Northland Centre, Nutfield, Pascoe Vale, Plenty, Preston, Research, Reservoir, Rosanna, Smiths Gully, South Morang, Templestowe Lower, Thomastown, Thornbury, View Bank, Watsonia, Wattle Glen, Whittlesea, Yallambie, Yarrambat. (Orange shading represents communities sourcing almost exclusively from Sugarloaf).

Sugarloaf Reservoir also supplies almost 500,000 customers of City West Water in the following regions; Werribee, Little River, Altona, Werribee South, Footscray, Deer Park, East Keilor, Strathmore, Moonee Ponds, Parkville.

Sugarloaf Reservoir sometimes supplies South East Water Customers, particularly in drier times. Suburbs include; Albert Park, Balaclava, Gardenvale, Garden City, Fishermens Bend, Elwood, Elsternwick, Melbourne, Middle Park, Prahan, Ripponlea, South Melbourne, South Yarra, Southbank, St/Kilda/West, St.Kilda/East, Windsor.