Melbourne Sewerage System
Melbourne's Sewerage System collects, transports, treats and disposes of the sewage generated within a large portion of the Melbourne metropolitan area.
Melbourne’s sewerage system was developed in a single mammoth effort in the 1890s. However, before it was built there had been 60 years of complaint, make do, inadequate alternative proposals, and ad-hoc attempts at disposing of human and other waste. Until 1897, the city did not have the facility for disposing of its waste, apart from the services of the night cart, and despite Melbourne’s well-developed infrastructure, civic and commercial buildings and robust economy, it was known as "Marvellous Smellbourne" largely because of the raw sewage which lay in drains and cesspits due to inadequate collection and treatment facilities.
Provision of sewerage systems was a great challenge facing Australian cities in the 19th century. Melbourne was slow to come up with a scheme to implement sewerage, however when it did start the project in the 1890s it did so in a professional and comprehensive way delivering a remarkable engineering achievement. The system began operation in 1897, five years after the initial plans were produced. The work included up to 2,400 miles (3,840 km) of underground sewers, a large steam powered pumping station, a 16 mile (25.6 km) gravitational Main Outfall Sewer and the Werribee Sewage Farm. Perhaps most importantly, it provided protection of public health at a time when typhoid was epidemic and causing an alarming death rate.
Post the Second World War, Melbourne expanded rapidly to the east. In the 1960s a second sewerage system, to service the eastern suburbs was built with a treatment plant at Carrum Downs (now called the Eastern Treatment Plant at Bangholme) and an ocean outfall near Cape Schanck to the east of Port Phillip Bay. This system is not covered by this nomination. As detailed in this submission, the sewerage scheme exhibits many features of engineering heritage significance.
It should be noted that the Spotswood Pumping Station, which is an element of this nomination, has already been recognised with a Historic Engineering Marker in 1994.
Engineering Heritage Recognition Program
| Marker Type | Engineering Heritage National Marker (EHNM) |
| Award Date | September 2014 |
| Heritage Significance | The Melbourne Sewerage System was the first reticulated sewerage system in Melbourne, constructed in the 1890s, and the majority of its underground networking still in use today. The construction of the system marks a significant improvement in technology and manufacturing capability in Australia. The system was the solution of one of the biggest problems of early Melbourne, the raw sewage smell in the street and the typhoid epidemic and high death rate that was afflicting Melbourne. |
| Nomination Document | Available here. |
| Ceremony Booklet Ceremony Report |
Not Available. |
| Plaque/Interpretation Panel | Available here. |
