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Manukau Water Sets Prices for 2007/08

Manukau City (1 June, 2007) – Manukau Water Limited has announced its pricing schedule for the financial year beginning July 1, 2007 and has also agreed to undertake a comprehensive review of its wastewater tariff structure by the end of this calendar year.

The company’s water price will be $1.199 per cubic metre from July 1, compared with $1.143 currently. The average household in Manukau City uses around 4 cubic metres (4,000 litres) a week of water, so most residential customers will pay less than $5 a week for the treatment and piping of clean water to their home.

The annual wastewater charge for household customers in Manukau will be $350 from July 1, compared with $320 currently. This is equivalent to around 96 cents a day. That is less than $7 a week for the removal and cleaning of water from sinks, showers, bathtubs, toilets, dishwashers, washing machines and similar appliances around the house.

The wastewater charge is higher than the water charge because the cost of piping and treating wastewater is more energy intensive, and the infrastructure assets are more expensive to build, than water piping and treatment assets.

For commercial customers the annual wastewater charge will be $1,040, or around $20 a week. Most of the wastewater infrastructure that commercial customers use is built to a larger specification than the wastewater systems in residential areas.

A major factor in setting Manukau Water Limited’s prices for the next financial year has been the impact of proposed changes in prices for bulk water and wastewater services in the Auckland region. These costs account for around half of Manukau Water Limited’s total costs and are forecast to rise to fund future infrastructure investment as the region grows.

Manukau Water Limited is working with other water and wastewater service providers to minimise these infrastructure costs over the longer term. This includes encouraging people to conserve water so that future large-scale investments can be delayed or even reduced. Manukau Water Limited will continue to consider all options to reduce demand including education in areas like water reuse.

Other major factors in setting prices for the next financial year have been an adjustment to reflect changing water consumption habits and allowances for reduced wastewater charges to some commercial customers. These reductions are occurring as Manukau Water Limited’s pricing becomes more transparent, and in the interest of continued transparency the company will be undertaking this year a comprehensive review of the way it charges charge customers for wastewater treatment.

Currently Manukau Water Limited charges an annual fee for wastewater treatment, but the review will consider all pricing options including a tariff that is based on the volume of water used.

The public will be fully consulted on the tariff structure review, which will be completed by the end of December, 2007. Any change to the structure will need to be approved by Manukau Water Limited’s owner, the Manukau City Council.

The following table outlines main changes to Manukau Water Limited’s pricing schedule for the financial year beginning July 1, 2007:

Service 2006/07 2007/08
Water Price (per cubic metre) $1.143 $1.199
Residential Wastewater (annual fee) $320 $350
Community Wastewater (annual fee)* $650 $610
Non-residential wastewater (annual fee)* $950 $1040
Network Growth Charge (Urban) excl GST $1400 $1450
Network Growth Charge (Beachlands Maraetei) excl GST $4400 $4550
* Non-residential customers who use more than 400m3 of water a year will pay a volumetric fee of $2.60 m3 (2006/07 $2.38 m3) to reflect the cost of treating their higher wastewater output. This is based on the volume of water they use but this can be adjusted to take account of water that is used in their products of service and therefore is not put into the sewerage system.

About Manukau Water

Manukau Water Limited is responsible for the management of the public water distribution and wastewater collection systems for the people of Manukau. The company serves approximately 338,000 people living in an area covering 552 square kilometres from Mangere, Pakuranga and Howick in the north to Manurewa in the south. It manages infrastructure assets worth nearly $1 billion.

Manukau Water Limited is owned by the Manukau City Council and the tariff schedule has been approved by the Council.

Manukau Water Limited does not operate for the purpose of making a profit, but it is required to recover its costs from customers

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