MEDIA RELEASE
23 May 2016

Water and wastewater price changes effective 1 July 2016

Watercare announced today it will be increasing the price of its water and wastewater services by an average of 2.5 per cent.

Watercare chief executive Raveen Jaduram says this means an average household’s combined water and wastewater charges would increase by about $1.75 a month from July 1, 2016, which is in-line with the company’s commitment to being a minimum-cost service provider.

Mr Jaduram says the price rise is necessary to cover increased service delivery costs, along with infrastructure renewals and expansion that support development across the region. Construction costs, in particular, have increased at a rate much higher than those measured in the Consumer Price Index.

Auckland’s population is predicted to grow by 1 million people in the next 30 years and the company has forecasted a $4.9 billion spend on capital investment over the next 10 years to support this growth.

“This investment will ensure our water and wastewater networks have sufficient capacity to cope with the increasing demand for water and wastewater services,” Mr Jaduram says.

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,” Mr Jaduram says.

· Water prices will increase from $1.409 to $1.444 (including GST) per 1,000 litres for all customers.

· Fixed wastewater charges for domestic customers will rise by $5 to $205 per year and from $2.394 to $2.454 per 1,000 litres of wastewater discharged (including GST).

· Wastewater charges for non-domestic customers will increase by an average of 2.5 per cent.

The infrastructure growth charge (IGC) for the metropolitan area will increase by 2.5 per cent to $11,020 plus GST. For stand-alone non-metropolitan networks where past and future investments are specific to each network, the charges also increase by 2.5 per cent.

The updated prices will be available on Watercare’s website, www.watercare.co.nz, from 1 June.

/ENDS

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