Water cost coming down, but waste fee will decide total bill

Moving to a single wastewater charging system will create winners and losers. Photo / Getty Images

Most Aucklanders will pay less for water under the Super City, but will have to wait for a wastewater charging system to learn their cost for the combined charges.

Local Government Minister Rodney Hide yesterday said water prices were set to tumble to $1.30 per 1000 litres of water from next July in most of metropolitan Auckland, saving the average household up to $225 a year.

Water prices vary from $1.31 per 100 litres in Manukau to $2.33 for 12,000 properties in Whangaparaoa and Orewa. The cost is $1.81 in Auckland City, $1.74 in Waitakere and $1.52 on the North Shore.

Mr Hide, whose bill for the Super City reforms is $200 million and expected to rise, has struggled to identify cost savings for ordinary Aucklanders.

One area identified for savings is building inspections, which will cost $110 an hour, compared with $110 to $178 at present.

Yesterday Mr Hide told a New Zealand Herald business lunch that creating a single water company, Watercare Services, would result in significant savings for water users.

He said the cost of wastewater services would also fall but the way wastewater costs would be spread across Auckland had still to be determined.

Moving to a single wastewater charging system will create winners and losers.

For example, a regionwide move to Auckland City's user-pays system for wastewater would lead to overall water bills rising by $800 or more for big water users.

The other three big city councils have fixed charges for wastewater.

Super City mayoral candidate John Banks has promised Aucklanders a choice of user-pays or a fixed charge for wastewater, and says the policy is not a political cop-out to avoid upsetting voters. Super City legislation allows for two charging systems.

Watercare chairman Graeme Hawkins said he expected significant savings in overall wastewater costs, but was neutral on how the revenue was "sliced and diced".

Mr Hawkins said the lower water cost of $1.30 confirmed the conclusions of various reports over the past 15 years that a single water supply company would give savings.

He said moving from a single water wholesaler (Watercare) and seven council retailers to a single company had brought lower operating costs and reduced capital expenditure.

Some capital work projects would be reviewed or deferred, he said. Other projects had been brought forward.

Labour's Auckland issues spokesman, Phil Twyford, accused the Government of postponing a full charging system for water until after next year's general election.

Aucklanders will also have to wait until 2012 for a new rating system, which will also create winners and losers.