Watercare Releases 2023/2024 Annual Report

Auckland’s water and wastewater service provider Watercare has released its Annual Report outlining its performance and key achievements in the 2023/2024 year.

Watercare chief executive Dave Chambers says for Watercare, the 2023/2024 financial year was “one like no other”.

“We started the year – in July 2023 – with the expectation that Watercare would become part of an independent water services entity serving Auckland and Northland on 1 July 2024.

“However, the general election in October delivered a change in Government and set a new direction for water reform. The National party’s Local Water Done Well policy means we remain an Auckland-focused, council-controlled organisation. Central and local government have worked at pace to deliver a pathway to financial separation on 1 July 2025. This will allow us to fully utilise our balance sheet and ensure a smoother price path for Aucklanders.”

“Through all this change, our staff have demonstrated their resilience and dedication to providing safe drinking water to the people of Tāmaki Makaurau – and in taking it away for thorough treatment and disposal after it’s been used. Our staff are undoubtedly our most valuable asset.”

A highlight for the year is Watercare’s record $1.04b investment in infrastructure, Chambers says.

“But what’s more important than the dollar figure is the 300+ projects it supported – big and small – that protect the environment, improve service to our customers, and allow Tāmaki Makaurau to grow.”

Chambers says the Ōrākei Main Sewer sinkhole was the biggest challenge faced during the 2023/2024 year.

“Our teams worked around the clock to design and build a 400-metre bypass and temporary pump station to reduce overflows to the Waitematā Harbour, within 20 days of the sewer’s collapse.

“Right now, we’re nearing completion of stage one of the sewer’s rehabilitation and will soon be backfilling the sinkhole site. We’ve also begun work on stage two of the wider rehabilitation project, because we want to ensure the sewer can operate well.”

Some of Watercare’s highlights for 2023/2024:

• Watercare continued to supply safe drinking water that consistently meets Taumata Arowai’s Quality Assurance Rules for bacterial and protozoal water quality.
• An estimated seven million litres of water per day saved through Watercare’s water network optimisation programme that hones in on leaks and water pressure at a neighbourhood level.
• All targets related to response and resolution times for faults in the water network were met.
• Customer satisfaction went up significantly, with the net satisfaction score lifting from 43 to 55.

Areas Watercare will continue to focus on in 2024/2025:

• Health, safety and wellbeing: Late last year, Watercare had HSE Global undertake a health, safety and wellbeing culture review. It identified two areas for improvement: consistency in the management of critical risks, and the need to embed psychological safety in teams so they are empowered to speak up, challenge conventional thinking and come up with ways to carry out work more safely. This is a key focus this year.
• Controllable costs. Watercare is committed to achieving a 4 per cent per annum efficiency target every year through to 2032 (compared to a baseline that recognises operational costs will grow in line with Watercare’s customer base).

“This year we will again break our capital investment record, with a plan to invest more than $1.2billion in Auckland’s water and wastewater infrastructure. This includes bringing online the southern section of the Central Interceptor wastewater tunnel and completing the 15-kilometre Huia 1 watermain.

“We will continue to engage with communities impacted by our projects and find ways to mitigate the disruption wherever possible.”

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