$27 per person would solve Wellington leaks, utility claims

Tuesday, 12 March 2024

Water leaks, including this one in Brooklyn, have plagued Wellington city.

For just $27 per Wellington man, woman and child, Wellington Water reckons it can clear the city’s leak backlog.

But to achieve it, the beleaguered water utility needs each council to approve a one-off funding boost then figure out how it can drop its per-leak repair cost from about $5000 to about $3300 — a drop Wellington Water says is doable as the $5000 was due to unique factors.

A prominent Wellington leak on Willis St, part of the Golden Mile.

Wellington Water has supplied each council with a list of the current backlog of leaks, at February 12, and the amount of money it would need to get on top of the region’s leaks. There were 3701 leaks across Wellington City, Hutt City, Upper Hutt, Porirua and South Wairarapa and fixing them would cost $12.2 million.

Stats NZ data has an estimated 452,800 population across the region, making the per-person cost $26.97.

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau says that at $5000-per-leak, Wellington Water’s cost are not sustainable.

The Wellington City Council in December gave Wellington Water $1m, with another $1m due, to get on top of some of the capital’s 800-plus leak backlog but it was on Monday revealed that just 74 leaks had been fixed with the money, of which $375,000 was spent. The per-leak cost had jumped from $1500 to $4932 since 2021.

The Wellington Water area is currently under water restrictions with a dry summer and about 44% of treated drinking water lost to leaks.

Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy says it is “highly unlikely” Wellington Water can get the work done.

An email from Wellington Water said Hutt City Council was the only one so far to put the extra funding, $2.8m, into its draft long-term plan but Wellington Water chairperson Campbell Barry, also Hutt City Mayor, said each council was “actively considering“ it.

The goal was to clear most of the backlog by the end of the year. In Hutt City’s case, that would mean bringing the number of leaks down from 865 to the low-200s.

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau said she was committed to getting on top of leaky pipes and the council’s long term plan proposed a 68% increase for pipes.

“If further funding for urgent repairs is necessary, then I’m open to considering that,” she said.

“But I would like to do more work with Wellington Water Ltd on how they can deliver better value for money as we’ve seen repair costs triple in the last few years. That’s just not sustainable for our ratepayers.”

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said her city was committed to funding the leak backlog.

“While we have no way of knowing what leaks will occur in the coming months, as long as we commit early we’re confident that the backlog as it currently sits can be fixed,” she said.

“We have also committed to a gradual increase in renewals which is the only way that the leaks issue can be resolved in the medium to long term.”

Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy believed it was “highly unlikely” Wellington Water would be able to deliver on its promise.

An emailed statement from Wellington Water said the $5000 per leak cost blowout with the recent Wellington City Council work was due to problems specific to that which included using external contractors and having specific reporting requirements.

The $3300 cost-per-leak was based on five new crews repairing four leaks a day. It also assumed that the current backlog from councils did not increase.