Watercare lifts prices for $5.5 billion spend needed to keep up with population

Watercare chief executive Raveen Jaduram. Photo / Greg Bowker

Watercare has announced it will be increasing the price of its water services by an average of 2.5 per cent as Auckland's population is predicted to grow by one million people in the next 30 years.

The company has forecast a $5.5 billion spend on upgrading and expanding infrastructure over the next 10 years to support this growth.

Chief executive Raveen Jaduram said this was an increase of less than $2 a month for an average household's water charges.

But it was necessary to cover growing service delivery costs, he said.

"Water and wastewater charges fund our day-to-day operations in supplying 'Aa'-graded drinking water to the people of Auckland and treating wastewater to a high standard."

They also fund infrastructure renewals and expansion that support development across the region, he said.

The price of wastewater services will increase by an average of 3.3 per cent, which reflects the greater investment required for future wastewater infrastructure.

"The increase of 3.3 percent reflects the higher investment required in wastewater infrastructure as the city grows and demand for these services increases," Jaduram said.

"These charges help to fund large projects such as the Central Interceptor, which not only provide for growth, but replace or help maintain the levels of service from our existing assets."

Capital expenditure was also funded from infrastructure growth charges and borrowings

Watercare does not operate to make a profit nor does it receive any funding from property rates paid to the Auckland Council.

It also does not pay a dividend to the Auckland Council.

"All the money we receive from customers goes into operating, maintaining and expanding our infrastructure to maintain a safe and reliable water supply for the future," Jaduram said.

What you need to know:

• Water prices will increase from $1.480 to $1.517 (including GST) per 1,000 litres for all customers.

• Fixed wastewater charges for domestic customers will rise by $7 to $218 per year and from $2.540 to $2.618 per 1,000 litres of wastewater discharged (including GST).

• Wastewater charges for non-domestic customers will increase by an average of 3.3 per cent.

• The Infrastructure Growth Charge (IGC) will increase by 3 per cent to $11,680 plus GST for metropolitan customers. For stand-alone non-metropolitan networks, where past and future investments were specific to each network, new IGCs would be introduced progressively between July and September 2018.