Water Meters

Mock bills are an important tool to get you ready for the switch from a fixed yearly charge to being charged for the water that you actually use. The new system is called volumetric charging.

The mock bills are unique to your property. They show each household’s water-use for the previous three months and what you would have to pay if volumetric charges were in place now. 

For properties on a shared meter, your mock bill will show only what your portion of the charge would be under volumetric charging.

If you think your property has a hidden leak, please contact a plumber to investigate it. Repairs between the house and the water toby at the property line are done at the homeowner’s expense.

This is also a good opportunity to try water-saving measures, such as shorter showers or reduced garden-watering, and see exactly how much they would lower your bill. NPDC has a Water Conservation Officer who can help you, and water saving tips are also available here.

Do not pay this mock bill – it’s not an invoice! Your water supply is still being paid for as part of your rates until the second half of 2027.

You will be asked to make this decision in the first half of 2027, after you’ve had time to review your water use and projected volumetric costs on your mock water bills. Your decision will be locked in for a year. (Changes can only be made once a year to ensure that billing is reflected correctly in future bills.)
 
Note: this does not apply to properties that are part of a body corporate. A single bill will go to the body corporate, which will then divide the bill equally between properties and on-charge to individual property owners (when actual billing begins from July 2027).

For most people, the meters will be free as NPDC will cover the cost.

For properties with shared meters: if homeowners wish to have a separate meter for their water supply, NPDC will continue to cover the cost of the manifold and water meter installation provided that:

• The property owner pays for the pipework within the property.
• The new meter is in the same location as the existing shared meter.
• The work is done before 30 June 2028 or during the one year following implementation of actual billing, whichever is later.

We’ve recently added two new reservoirs, but we all pay for these and they cost money to maintain too. We can’t keep on building reservoirs if we don’t look at how much we use and do more to save water.

However, we have to demonstrate that that our district is reducing its excessive water consumption or we are unlikely to be granted future consents to take water from our supply streams, and water meters is the most effective way to achieve that.

We are, but the Resource Management Act aims to stop overconsumption of natural resources like water. If we applied for a consent to take water from a new source, we'd be more likely to succeed if we showed we are good managers of the water we’re already using.

This work is always ongoing. NPDC is investing $289m over 10 years to 2034 to fix the district’s plumbing.

Water meters will help us better understand the district's water usage, which will guide our options regarding water restrictions.