MEDIA RELEASE

Manukau Water Limited Invests In Community

Manukau City (15 December, 2006) – Manukau Water Limited is continuing to invest millions of dollars to both maintain its existing water and wastewater services and to enhance capacity on its network.

This investment is being made despite the company expecting its overall revenue to be little changed this year compared with its previous financial year.

Investments the company is making include new water storage tanks and water mains, as well as pump station upgrades. In addition the company is upgrading its Beachlands/Maratei waste water treatment plant and is currently seeking resource consent approval for a new wastewater treatment facility at Kawakawa Bay.

The Kawakawa Bay facility will deal with a public health risk which currently sees the bay closed to swimming and shellfish gathering.

While Manukau Water Limited is now a council-controlled organisation – rather than a business unit of council – its priority continues to be the provision of quality water and wastewater services to the people of Manukau,” said Raveen Jaduram, chief executive of Manukua Water Limited.

“Any money we earn is put back into developing water and wastewater services for the people of Manukau. We do not operate for the purpose of making a profit,” Mr Jaduram said.

Mr Jaduram said Manukau Water Limited is committed to providing value to its customers, who are the residents and ratepayers of Manukau.

“In fact, in the past year the residential wastewater service charge – which was previously part of a council rates bill but now appears on your bill from Manukau Water Limited – has increased by less than 2 cents a day. That’s about $7 a year.”

The charge came off the rates bill at the same time as the method of calculating rates changed, so this has made it difficult for some people to see the change.

The residential wastewater charge is equivalent to 88 cents a day for Manukau Water Limited to take away and clean water from sinks, showers, bathtubs, toilets, washing machines and dishwashers.

For most commercial users the wastewater fee is $950 a year – or $2.60 a day. That fee applies to commercial users who use less than 40 cubic meters a year of water.

On a per litre basis the fee for removing and treating wastewater (such as sewage) is higher than the fee for treating and providing water. This is because wastewater treatment costs are much more expensive than those for water.

“It is much more expensive to provide the pipe and pumping infrastructure – as well as facilities like sewage treatment plants – for wastewater than it is to provide pipelines and treatment for water,” Mr Jaduram noted.

Mr Jaduram also noted that most of the cost to dispose of wastewater from a house is much the same whether one person lives there or a large family.

“That’s because the main cost is in building and maintaining the sewerage network to your house, and that is much the same regardless of how much you pour down the pipes”

Manukau City is the fastest growing City in New Zealand and Manukau Water Limited has a long-term asset management plan to make sure it continues to meet the future water and wastewater demands of the people of Manukau.

“We are constantly talking with our customers to make sure we understand their long terms needs and we are making investment decisions to make sure those needs are met,” Mr Jaduram said.

About Manukau Water

Manukau Water Limited is responsible for the management of the public water distribution and wastewater collection systems for the people of Manukau.

The company serves approximately 334,000 people living in an area covering 552 square kilometres from Mangere, Pakuranga and Howick in the north to Manurewa in the south. It manages infrastructure assets worth nearly $1 billion.

Manukau Water is owned by the Manukau City Council and is not required to generate a commercial return on its assets. Its aim is to ensure the lowest prices consistent with meeting its operating goals to deliver high quality and reliable products and services.

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