Big repair bills for water pipes could soon be a reality for residents across the region

Tuesday, 2 March 2021

Tītahi Bay households could be the first in the region stung with bills potentially reaching into the tens of thousands of dollars as Wellington Water investigates the pipe network, Porirua’s mayor says.

Anita Baker​ said the suburb’s homeowners will be expected to foot the cost of repairs if broken pipes or cross connections were identified on their properties, in the first of a series of checks on infrastructure linking private homes into Wellington Water’s network.

The checks over the next few months are part of the region-wide Knowing Your Pipes project to improve water quality by reducing the amount of sewage entering waterways.

With recent network failures across the region giving some indication of the costs residents face, she said the bills could be substantial.

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“It could be in to the tens of thousands [of dollars], is my guess.”

The $250,000 project would eventually extend across the city, she said.

Abby Jensen​, Wellington Water’s environmental water quality programme manager, said other areas identified for checks were Wellington’s Owhiro Bay and Wainuiomata in Lower Hutt. The project would cover more areas, however those places were yet to be determined.

Tītahi Bay Residents’ Association representative Michelle Laurenson said it was frightening that people could soon find out they were liable for faults in the network that were not of their making.

She likened the situation to the leaky homes crisis and said there should be a similar financial assistance package for this issue in which costs would be shared between homeowners and central or territorial authorities.

With numerous recent sewage discharges into the bay, she accepted the work was necessary but thought there should have been better consultation with property owners into how the works could be funded.

Tītahi Bay was not a wealthy suburb, Laurenson said, and many people were struggling to make ends meet in the economic conditions created by Covid-19.

“This is terrible timing.”

Jensen said homeowners were responsible for ensuing the pipes on their property were in good condition and were correctly installed.

Work crews would not need to enter homes or buildings but would require access to properties to carry out smoke testing and dye tracing. Public and private networks would be checked.

Faults were suspected to be in the Tītahi Bay network but the extent of those issues would not be known until investigations were completed, she said.

Baker said there would be a lot of people unable to pay for repairs upfront. Private property owners could apply for assistance to Porirua City Council, allowing them to spread the bill out in annual $500 payments added to their rates from July 1.

It would be a difficult pill to swallow for many but the work was necessary for the health of the community and waterways, she said.

Hutt City Council spokeswoman Caryn Ellis​ said $250,000 had been budgeted for the Knowing your Pipes programme in Lower Hutt. Information suggested there were faults in the city’s pipe network.

Geoff Swainson​, Upper Hutt City Council’s asset management and operations director, said pipe network checks had been carried out prior to Wellington Water taking over the management of the three waters services in 2014.

“The council is open to Wellington Water resuming this type of network assessment in the future, but certainly understands the need to prioritise this work elsewhere in the region first.”

Wellington City Council was approached for comment.