Price submission

NIGEL: So before I started the process I have to admit I didn't know a lot about Greater Western Water. Like many utilities, maybe it sounds unfair, you almost want to be able to take them for granted. You want to turn on the tap and not have to think about too much where the water comes from, you just want the water to come out. MS YANG: In the past, for me, I wasn't thinking that much in regard to saving water. It feels like the tap water in my home comes out just by turning on the tap. But I've learned useful knowledge which has made me progress a lot. I know how to save water, and I know the ways it reaches thousands upon thousands of families and households. EBONY: It's made me more mindful of, you know, using water I suppose, and like turning on the tap whereas, before I would do it without thinking and I think I've been more willing to talk to others about water too. Like the process the water goes through, through the pipes and where it comes from. The quality, the taste and everything comes from like a massive process. OLA: The waterway health - I didn't ever think about the desal plant that they talked to us about, the water treatment plants, how the money is spent, the disruptions. I've learned so much during this panel experience. NIGEL: Oh it's a lot bigger than what I thought. I mean, if you think about the physical assets, you know, the catchment and the the area that Greater Western Water serves, was a lot bigger than I thought it was. OLA: What scared me the most is how we use drinking water to flush our toilets and water our gardens and there are so many countries where they have no access to drinking water and so the talk of recycling water and using treated water or storm water for flushing toilets, for gardening, for watering parks - I was really passionate about all that. NIGEL: I wasn't aware, when engaging with the community, the breadth of things that are considered. This is actually about the diversity of the community and the different ways that people use water, not just about how me, in my house, use water myself.   OLA: I didn't know there was any community involvement. I thought Greater Western Water and maybe the government decides these things, and what we want or say, you know, you can complain and you can write in, but I didn't think the community would ever be consulted for Price Submissions.   NIGEL: So one of the things I got out of the community panel is it's actually been a bit of fun. When I started reading the background reading, it was at that point that I realised actually there's a lot going on here that we really need to think about. OLA: It's such a diverse group of people which I've loved. So meeting people from very different walks of life, seeing their take on things. To have people with very diverse opinions, very different ways, different values, different priorities, has been really interesting. JOAN: I was very, very nervous coming because I thought I'm not going to fit in here and I really didn't know what it was really about. I read the manual and and still it didn't click properly, and I thought, no, and then when I came in and saw everybody and everyone was so nice, I thought I'll just go with the flow and everyone was willing to help me and I think I held my own quite well really. OLA: Next time I get a bill I will have a much deeper view of what it is and just the team at Greater Western Water, how passionate they are. They've made such an effort to answer our questions, to get back to us if they didn't know the answer, so I have more trust in the whole system.