Construction of Victoria's first desalination plant is gaining momentum with the first of 84 kilometres of pipes laid in Melbourne's southeast.

The pipes will pump desalinated water from the $3.5 billion plant at Wonthaggi to Melbourne's water storages from the end of next year.

Desalinated water will also be piped to Geelong and towns in Western Port and South Gippsland.

The pipeline is made up of 6200 pipes and will share an easement with the underground power lines feeding into the plant for 78 kilometres before diverging.

'This pipeline will deliver up to 150 billion litres of water a year from the desalination plant in Wonthaggi to connect with Melbourne's existing water supply network,' Water Minister Tim Holding said.

The two-way pipe will also enable water from Melbourne to be funnelled to communities in South Gippsland and Western Port.

The pipe would be capable of carrying up to 200 billion litres of water a year, should the plant capacity be expanded.

Construction of the plant started in September, with 900,000 cubic metres of earth excavated and the foundations poured.

The company building the plant, AquaSure, has stepped up recruitment, with more than 500 workers set to be employed by next month.

Source: BigPond News