Indeed she did (I was there - and used to work in the water industry).

We have water meters here so no different surely?

In Wellington there is a limited liability company, Wellington Water Limited, operating the regional water supply, whose shareholders are each of Wellington City Council, Hutt City Council, Upper Hutt City Council, Porirua City Council and Wellington Regional Council 

Geektastic:

 

Indeed she did (I was there - and used to work in the water industry).

 

We have water meters here so no different surely?

 

What do you mean "we"? In Hamilton the majority of domestic users don't have meters, and it was a popular issue during the last local body election. AFAIK most of the current council went on the record as being against installing meters.

Geektastic:

 

Indeed she did (I was there - and used to work in the water industry).

 

We have water meters here so no different surely?

 

Nope many Councils don't have domestic water meters - fricken daft really given that if its "free" people don't value it and consequently waste it...

driller2000:

 

Geektastic:

 

Indeed she did (I was there - and used to work in the water industry).

 

We have water meters here so no different surely?

 

 

 

 

Nope many Councils don't have domestic water meters - fricken daft really given that if its "free" people don't value it and consequently waste it...

 

There are plenty of places in NZ where it would be down right daft to charge for water as it is available in abundance.

driller2000:

Geektastic:

Indeed she did (I was there - and used to work in the water industry).

We have water meters here so no different surely?

 

Nope many Councils don't have domestic water meters - fricken daft really given that if its "free" people don't value it and consequently waste it...

There are cities in the Wellington region that don't have any meters, although they have tried to bring them in, it was voted down. Meters IMO are a bit of a slippery slope. eg If you have a leak that was through no fault of your own (eg a pipe just bursts or starts leaking(which is quite common), or a rupture occurs after an earthquake), you can end up with a huge bill for water that probably won't be covered by your insurance policy.

driller2000:

 

Geektastic:

 

Indeed she did (I was there - and used to work in the water industry).

 

We have water meters here so no different surely?

 

 

 

 

Nope many Councils don't have domestic water meters - fricken daft really given that if its "free" people don't value it and consequently waste it...

 

It isn't free, it is a fixed charge in the rates. Also councils have people who go around making sure that it isn't being wasted and will fine anyone that is, which in my area is about $400. Those areas that do have meters can potentially waste just as much water, especially if they want to use their full year waters allocation to make sure they are getting their moneys worth.

mattwnz:

 

There are cities in the Wellington region that don't have any meters, although they have tried to bring them in, it was voted down. Meters IMO are a bit of a slippery slope. eg If you have a leak that was through no fault of your own (eg a pipe just bursts or starts leaking(which is quite common), or a rupture occurs after an earthquake), you can end up with a huge bill for water that probably won't be covered by your insurance policy.

 

If a pipe burst or leaks on your property, you should fix it, why should the council pay your water bill if you can't maintain your property?

The beauty of a meter is you know if you have a leak!!

chevrolux:

 

driller2000:

 

Geektastic:

 

Indeed she did (I was there - and used to work in the water industry).

 

We have water meters here so no different surely?

 

 

 

 

Nope many Councils don't have domestic water meters - fricken daft really given that if its "free" people don't value it and consequently waste it...

 

 

There are plenty of places in NZ where it would be down right daft to charge for water as it is available in abundance.

 

But availability is not the only issue. (And for many communities it is in fact a significant issue.)

There are also other issues like reliability and water quality.

Furthermore - unless you have your own collection system e.g. rain tanks (+ possibly treatment) - then it has to be done at a community level.

And getting water to your tap requires:

 

1. Collection: Rivers and Intakes / Catchments and Dams / Ground Water and Wells etc.
2. Treatment: Generally to Drinking Water Standard - which requires treatment plants.
3. Distribution: Pipes / Pumps / Reservoirs etc

All of these require things like - land / consents / design / construction / maintenance / operations / upgrading / expansion etc.

And what do you know - none of this is FREE.

So if the user ain't paying for it directly and based on their metered usage - then we all pay for it via our rates - irrespective of our actual usage.

PS: It's a well established fact that when people don't have domestic meters ie. when its "Free" - they use more - install meters they use less. FACT.

We certainly have water meters here in the South Wairarapa. Ours is read several times a year. We get a fixed amount included in the rates bill of $3500 they send us every year but I forget how much volume, as our house is not actually connected to the town supply, only the garden hose is, so we have never exceeded the allowance, even in dry years when I use the hose to fill the rainwater tank.

People should pay for what they use, be it water, gas, electricity or any other thing. None of these things are free when commercially supplied.

We get almost all our house supply from rain, but even that is not free - we have the pump serviced annually, the UV and filtration system serviced annually and the tank cleaned periodically.

blakamin:

 

mattwnz:

 

There are cities in the Wellington region that don't have any meters, although they have tried to bring them in, it was voted down. Meters IMO are a bit of a slippery slope. eg If you have a leak that was through no fault of your own (eg a pipe just bursts or starts leaking(which is quite common), or a rupture occurs after an earthquake), you can end up with a huge bill for water that probably won't be covered by your insurance policy.

 

 

If a pipe burst or leaks on your property, you should fix it, why should the council pay your water bill if you can't maintain your property?

 

The beauty of a meter is you know if you have a leak!!

 

Of course, but you may have already incurred a huge bill for water by the time you have found the leak. Leaks are often not about leaks maintenance, as leaks can occur for many reasons, as any pipe or joint has the potential to leak if you give it enough time. eg. change in temperatures (frozen pipes), earthquakes, building movement, etc. There is also the black plastic piping installed in many houses in the 70's - 90's that people have had trouble with leaking.

The council had a mains water leak last week on our road, and it took the council about 6 hours before contractors finally came to sort it out after being informed, as it was outside office hours.Flooded the entire road and some peoples property. 

Geektastic:

 

We certainly have water meters here in the South Wairarapa. Ours is read several times a year. We get a fixed amount included in the rates bill of $3500 they send us every year but I forget how much volume, as our house is not actually connected to the town supply, only the garden hose is, so we have never exceeded the allowance, even in dry years when I use the hose to fill the rainwater tank.

 

 

 

$3500 sounds a lot for a small town. Although you do have that new town hall to pay for ;) 

mattwnz:

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, but you may have already incurred a huge bill for water by the time you have found the leak. Leaks are often not about leaks maintenance, as leaks can occur for many reasons, as any pipe or joint has the potential to leak if you give it enough time. eg. change in temperatures (frozen pipes), earthquakes, building movement, etc. There is also the black plastic piping installed in many houses in the 70's - 90's that people have had trouble with leaking.

 

Fair enough for EQ damage, but that would be covered by insurance, in any other case, you won't get a huge water bill for a minor leak.

We have bills every 3 months. If you suspect a leak, turn all your taps off and look at the meter. If it moves, you have a leak, call a plumber. I spent 10 years in kapiti and people not being responsible for water usage is a big annoyance of mine. Especially when we ended up with bore water. It's not like it never rains.

Now I live in one of the driest countries on earth, and we have water meters, so people don't waste it!

Where I live we don't even get water restrictions, in a very dry state. Because people fix leaks. :D

In fact, we even have a $2b desal plant that costs millions a year to keep virtually mothballed, because we don't need it.