Metro Water bills forecast to hit $7000 a year in Wellington – before rates
Thursday, 12 June 2025
The novelty of your new Metro Water bill looks set to lose its shine with projections showing residents will be paying nearly $20 a day to keep the taps running and toilets flushing – and then come rising rates.
Wellington City Council indicative figures show the average Wellington household will, in the second half of 2026, pay $2572 a year per water connection as part of council rates.
Some time soon after July next year, water will be charged separately. Water alone is expected to cost an average of $7041 by mid-2033. That is a daily increase from $7.04 to $19.20.
Meanwhile, rates are expected to drop when Wellington’s new water entity, working title Metro Water, takes over next year, but continue to climb from there. Metro Water will run water in Wellington City, Hutt City, Upper Hutt and Porirua.
The total amount paid by an average Wellington household for rates plus water will be $4869 next year. That is expected to hit just over $11,000 seven years later, in the second half of 2033, when it will cost $30.58 on average per day, per household to keep the council and taps running.
Mayor Tory Whanau alleged candidates vying to take her job while promising lower rates were “likely talking about the agreed transition in water service funding that is already set to occur”.
From July next year, the average Wellington ratepayer would get a reduced rate anyway but that was because the water rate would be charged by Metro Water.
“This shift is already on the horizon regardless of who is elected mayor of Wellington,” Whanau said.
But there will be a way for individuals to potentially keep the water bills down – water meters, which Whanau is a proponent of.
Critics say they are a way to increase charges but proponents argue they will help detect leaks and mean people pay for the water they actually use.
Hutt City Council confirmed it had budgeted to start installing meters in the next financial year while Porirua expects to install them between 2027 and 2029.
Upper Hutt has $569,000 for a business case this year but no funding budgeted to install meters.
Wellington City has $143 million budgeted in its long-term plan for water meters with a pencilled in date to start installing from mid-2027. A confirmed start date would come in September.
Mayoral candidate Ray Chung said rising residential rates plus the water bill made for “unsustainable” bills and the council needed to cut excessive spending.
He opposed compulsory water meters, which were designed to measure use and not find leaks. Most leaks were in the network while meters only read the water going from tobies to homes.
Candidate Karl Tiefenbacher said, with water rates charged separately from rates, it was “vital” to have a corresponding drop in rates while efficiently delivering core services.
“It is inevitable that water meters will be installed, and you would expect the funding of that to be included in these projections,” he said.
Candidate Alex Baker said water meters could help find leaks and target renewals “which should reduce long-term costs and play out beneficially for ratepayers”.
“I would want to be comfortable that the sequencing of water meter installations makes sense in this context,” he said.
Fellow mayoral candidate Andrew Little said any shift to water meters would need to be underpinned by principles of cost control and equity. A full user pays regime risked putting costs on those who could least afford it.
“On the face of it those are eye watering figures and if elected I would want to interrogate what sits behind the figures and the assumptions behind them. There is no question investment is needed but just as importantly we need to be getting value for money.”
Future Proofing New Zealand: The 2050 Local Government Forum, which will feature panellists from both local and central government, will be livestreamed on The Post from 5.30pm on June 18.