Two Global Firms to Fix Melbourne's Water Gap

Jacobs and Stantec win a five-year joint venture to plan and deliver water and contaminated land infrastructure in Melbourne's west

2 Jun 2026

Greater Western Water has appointed Jacobs and Stantec, working as a joint venture, to lead a five-year Infrastructure Planning and Delivery Program across Melbourne's western suburbs. The contract, announced on 26 May 2026, anchors a decade-long capital investment program serving more than 580,000 customers across 3,700 square kilometres.

Population growth in Melbourne's west is outpacing water network capacity. The joint venture will deliver engineering and advisory services across water and wastewater design, treatment plant upgrades, dam engineering, groundwater studies, discharge quality analysis, and contaminated land investigations.

The contaminated land scope reflects tightening regulatory conditions. Australia's updated drinking water guidelines and National Environmental Management Plan 3.0 have placed PFAS contamination and discharge compliance under closer scrutiny. Embedding remediation work directly inside the engineering program marks a shift from how utilities have typically managed that risk.

Delivery will follow an integrated project model, aligning the utility, designers, and contractors from the outset. Shared risk, shared information, and common accountability reduce the scope drift and rework that have undermined comparable programs elsewhere.

Jacobs carries eight years of prior work with Greater Western Water, providing continuity across a complex asset base. Stantec contributes capability in climate resilience and sustainable water system design.

Social procurement commitments form part of the delivery framework, including engagement with Indigenous-owned businesses and local workforce development. Community outcomes now factor into how major infrastructure partnerships are assessed in Australia.

Regulatory demands on water quality are intensifying, and Melbourne's west is projected to absorb hundreds of thousands of new residents over the coming decades. How the joint venture performs against both growth and compliance pressure will be watched by other utilities weighing similar delivery models.