Water meters would help address Wellington's leak problem - but will politicians act?

Friday, 23 December 2022

Wellington Water explains what we can all do to help reduce leaks.

The Wellington region is facing a water crisis. About 40% of our water is being lost to leaks, many on private land. Charging for water is an obvious way to tackle that, but Nicholas Boyack finds little political appetite for meters.

Expect water restrictions this summer – despite all the rain we’ve had over the past few months. That’s the message from Wellington Water as leaks spring faster than the regional utility can fix them. The region is losing the equivalent of 27 Olympic swimming pools a day to leaks, many of them on private land.

It’s well proven that meters are an effective way to reduce water usage – just ask Auckland, or Kāpiti or South Wairarapa.

Across the Wellington region, we use between 210 and 224 litres per person per day. Compare that with the supercity to the north, where there are water meters: Aucklanders use between 140 and 175 litres a day.

* City councillor hits out at plans to introduce water meters in Wellington

* Meter project shows Marlborough house leaks 67,000 litres of water a day

* Water meters are never popular, but they make a lot of sense

29102021 Photo: ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry by the Hutt River. RIverLink is the $700m project to turn the city towards the river.

* Daring to manage demand with meters

But few mayors around the region, with the exception of Porirua’s Anita Baker, are willing to consider charging residents for the volume of water they use.

“It would be political suicide – but I still believe it is the only way to save water,” Baker said.

Near neighbour Kāpiti has meters and she said they had been a great success – despite a high level of initial opposition. “I totally support meters, it is the only way to change how people use water.”

Wellington Water, the entity which oversees water services for Wellington City, Porirua, the Hutt Valley and South Wairarapa councils, is focusing on fixing leaks after acknowledging up to 40% of our water is going down the drain.

Hutt City Mayor Campbell Barry, who is the chairperson of the Wellington Water committee, is in favour of meters for making people conscious of their water use – but against charging for water.

Rob Walker, Wellington Regional Water Loss Team leader, explains to Porirua mayor Anita Baker the process used by the crew to identify and deal with leaks around the Wellington region.

Barry said he was concerned about the impact of charging on big families and lower socio-economic groups. “In my view it risks disadvantaging large households.”

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has similar views to Campbell Barry. “They are not on my radar, the priority is fixing our infrastructures but in the future it is something I will look at,” she said.

But Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy, an outspoken critic of Wellington Water, is adamantly opposed. “I am not a fan of water meters… it is just another added cost for people.”

Leaks on private property, like this one in Brooklyn, are becoming an increasing problem across the region.

In 2020, a report from Ernst Young and Beca recommended water meters at a cost of $144m. At the then current rate of water use and population growth, the amount of water needed to cope with a dry summer, could run out as early as 2026, the report said.

Unless the region reduced demand, councils would have to build a $250m water supply lake in Upper Hutt, Ernst Young and Beca said.

“At present, Wellington Water’s residential customers are not extensively metered, which has wide-ranging impacts on Wellington Water’s ability to improve network efficiencies and support customers to make informed decisions as to how much water they use,” the report said.

So do we need meters? Wellington Water boss Colin Crampton said the final decision on meters is a political one for councils. The utility has put together a business case for meters but he said meters alone would not fix the current situation.

Property owners already pay the costs involved with getting water from the source to their tap – through their rates.

The more consumers are aware of their water use and how much that usage costs, the more likely they are to conserve water, he said.

Water meters were an important “educative tool” in helping households to gain this understanding, whether councils choose to use meters for billing purposes or not. Meters and improved detection of leaks buys time for the councils but the need for more storage would not go away, he said.

WW’s chief adviser on drinking water Laurence Edwards said meters allow people to understand how much water they use. “In my household I would not have a clue how much we use…if you don’t know (how much water you use) how can you value it?

Baker supports WW’s current stance on fixing leaks but said the reality is that across the region we need to reduce consumption and meters are the best tool to do so.

Much of the water Wellingtonians drink comes from the Hutt River/Te Awa Kairangi or the aquifer that runs under Hutt City.

Meters force people to think about how much water they use and that leads to people taking shorter showers and a more responsible approach to water use, she said.

If the region does nothing to reduce use, councils would be forced to build an expensive storage facility, which would have a significant impact on rates, Baker said.

In 2009, Wellington’s two most influential politicians – Greater Wellington regional council chairwoman Fran Wilde and Wellington mayor Kerry Prendergast – called for a debate on meters.

Wilde predicted meters were inevitable.

'Water metering has been a bit of a political untouchable. But there's no reason why it should not be debated in an informed way by the community.”

Emotions ran high, when the Kāpiti council introduced water meters.

That debate is yet to take place but if Ernst Young and Beca are right about 2026 being a crunch year, time is fast running out.

Take a look at Kāpiti and South Wairarapa

Water meters are in use in the South Wairarapa district, which incorporates Greytown, Featherston and Martinborough, and are viewed positively, said mayor Martin Connelly.

Anti water meter campaigners in Paekākāriki, John Livesey and Therese Lloyd in 2010.

Residents get 350 cubic metres of water per household annually and if they use more, they are charged for it. If someone feels they have been charged due to a leak, all they have to do is produce a receipt from a plumber to get a refund.

During the recent election, the issue was not raised with him once, Connelly said.

Meters force people to think about routine tasks, like cleaning the car, watering the garden and leaving the tap running whilst cleaning their teeth, he said.

Although people claim access to water is a basic right, Connelly said it is actually “an expensive commodity” and charging helps people understand the need to preserve water.

Water is carried many miles in pipes, it is filtered and treated, before emerging from your tap “as a top-notch” product, and Connelly believes Wellingtonians should be paying for it like any other commodity.

He predicts the need for new storage facilities will be a game changer.

“When all the cities get to a point they need to find a new water source, they might find that metering is a cheaper option.”

Kāpiti's meters were installed in 2014, at a cost of $8 million, and drew widespread opposition, including street protests.

In January 2015, journalist Joel Maxwell wrote meters were the most “unpopular decisions in Kāpiti Coast District Council history” – but that they had significantly reduced water consumption. “Metered charging started in July despite thousands of submissions against the move, which was seen as anti-democratic, user-pays and ineffective at solving Kāpiti's water problems.”

The subject dominated letters to the editor of the Kāpiti Observer, and councillors who supported it came in for heavy criticism. Mayor Jenny Rowan lost her job after meters dominated the campaign.

Anyway you measure it, however, the meters were a good investment. Like other areas in Aotearoa where meters have been installed, use decreased dramatically.

A review by council waste and wastewater asset manager Martyn Cole found that after 18 months, water use had declined by 26%.

That was not, however, the only positive. There was a 97% drop in water being lost to leaks.

As a direct result of metering, the council reduced its take from the Waikanae River by more than one million cubic metres. That meant there was no need for water restrictions in summer.

In 2018, Kāpiti chief executive Wayne Maxwell said meters continued to be a success with water consumption down 20%. Furthermore, three-quarters of ratepayers paid less for water than under the previous one-size-fits-all approach.