Media Release
1 June 2007

Manukau Water funding plan approved

After the Manukau City Council approved Manukau Water Limited’s water funding plan last night, water in Manukau at $1.199 per cubic metre is still the lowest in the Auckland region. Wastewater charges will also continue to be amongst the lowest in the region.

The plan allows for increases in the price of water of 4.9 per cent and wastewater of 9.38 per cent. For an average household in Manukau that will amount to an average rise of $11 a year (about 21c a week) for domestic water supply and an increase in their domestic wastewater bill of about $30 a year (around 60 cents per week).

Manukau Mayor Sir Barry Curtis says even after the water price increase, Manukau’s residents will pay about 25% less than most residents in the rest of the Auckland region.

“The combined increase of water and wastewater charges for the average household will be around $10 per three-monthly billing. Our council and Manukau Water have made this decision based on the need to fulfil our commitment to the people of Manukau to provide high-quality water and wastewater services,” Sir Barry says.

The average household in Manukau city uses around 4 cubic metres of water a week, meaning most residential customers, at $1.199 per cubic metre, will pay less than $5 a week for the treatment and piping of clean water to their home.

The annual wastewater charge for household customers will increase to $350. This is less than $7 a week for the removal and cleaning of water from sinks, showers, bathtubs, toilets, dishwashers, washing machines and similar appliances around the house. This is considerably less than most households pay for their power.

The increase will not provide a dividend from Manukau Water to the council, but will ensure Manukau Water has the income required to meet the cost of water from Watercare Services and to maintain the infrastructure for a growing city.

Manukau Water’s water and wastewater revenue fell below forecast because of cuts in volumes used by non-residential customers.

“Because of the charging based on usage, many non-residential customers reduced their water use, fixed leaks on their properties, or requested water audits which showed that less water ended up in the wastewater system than originally estimated.

“Some customers were also paying Manukau Water as well as Watercare Services for trade waste. This has been rectified so that those customers now pay trade waste directly to Watercare Services only,” Sir Barry says.

He says that just because water use goes down does not mean Manukau Water’s costs also go down.

“More than 90 per cent of Manukau Water’s costs for providing water and taking away wastewater are fixed. It is also important that Manukau Water is able to fund future expansion of water delivery and wastewater disposal services to meet increasing demand from a rapidly growing city.”

There will also be a review, this year, of the formula used to charge consumers for wastewater.

“We need to ensure that the way the cost of wastewater is shared between groups of consumers is equitable. Therefore, council has decided to ask for a review of the wastewater tariff structure and there will be consultation with the community following this review,” Sir Barry says.

The current formula is a fixed charge for domestic consumers and a mix of fixed and per cubic metre charges for non-residential consumers.

ENDS

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