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Water Meters

Water billing

Following public consultation, the Council decided in August 2025 to change from the current fixed annual charge to fully volumetric billing for paying for residential water services.

That means that from 1 July 2027, all urban households will be charged for only the amount of water they use.

There will be no changes made to how the residential wastewater service is charged – the fixed annual charge will continue.

Timeline

  • 1 July 2026 – 12-month mock billing begins.
  • 1 July 2027 – Actual billing by meter begins.
  • 1 July 2027 implementation of new and updated policies (see more detail below).

Please note that these changes depend on the adoption of the 2027–2037 Long-Term Plan.

Shared water meters

If you share a meter with other households, you can choose to either:

  • Split the bill equally with others on the same meter (the default setting for properties on shared meters), or
  • Request to move your property back to a yearly fixed charge.

As an alternative, you can choose to have a separate meter installed for just your property. This would require you to pay for the private pipework on your property. NPDC would pay for the meter until 30 June 2028 (or until one year after actual billing for volumetric use starts, whichever is later), after which the cost of the meter and its installation would be paid by the property owner.

Support and policies

  • Hardship support: A new policy will help vulnerable users, including renters, who struggle with water bills.
  • Leakage remission: If you fix a leak within the set timeframe, you’ll get 100% of the leaked water cost refunded.
  • Commercial customers: A new policy will help businesses adjust to the new billing system for the first two years.

Page last updated: 03:32pm Fri 14 November 2025

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06 759 6060 enquiries@npdc.govt.nz
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