What you need to know about Tiaki Wai, the entity replacing Wellington Water

Source: Radio New Zealand

Ratepayers in the Wellington metropolitan area will have two bills from 1 July as new water entity Tiaki Wai replaces Wellington Water.

The new organisation would provide drinking water, wastewater, and piped stormwater services for approximately 432,000 people across the Wellington metropolitan area.

It was jointly owned by five councils – Wellington City, Porirua City, Hutt City, Upper Hutt City and Greater Wellington Regional Council.

The new entity was promising more investment in Wellington’s chronically underfunded water infrastructure, but warned it would come at a cost – and that water meters were also on the way.

What is the difference between Tiaki Wai and Wellington Water?

Chair of Tiaki Wai Will Peet said it absorbed the current Wellington Water plus the remaining functions that sat with individual councils.

He said the new organisation was quite different to its predecessor.

“At the moment, the councils own all the assets and Wellington Water runs them on their behalf.”

He said the councils would transfer all their assets across to Tiaki Wai and it would be the water provider for everybody in the Wellington metropolitan area.

“So we start off in quite a different position.”

How will ratepayers’ bills change under the new system?

From 1 July 2026 Peet said there would be another page on rates bills, which would set out how much to pay for water, and that would be paid to Tiaki Wai.

“What that means for people is that before the 30th of June, you’ll need to change your payment arrangements,” he said.

“If you’ve got a direct debit, which a bit over half people do, where the money comes out of your account every time there’s a bill, then you’ll need to have a new direct debit through to us at Tiaki Wai.

“For the people that pay over the counter at a council office, you’ll still be able to do that, but you’ll make two payments instead of one.”

Peet said the first year’s water bills would differ between areas in the region, reflecting what each council had already budgeted for water.

He expected the total of the two bills would be broadly what ratepayers in each area expected to pay.

But he said that would change as Tiaki Wai aimed to “harmonise” water bills between the cities as soon as possible, as under the new system everyone would be part of one big network.

Am I going to be paying more in the future?

Peet said, in the long term, charges would be going up.

“We’re [dealing with] a lot of underinvestment over the last number of decades. So water charges are going to be going up.”

From new pipes to investing in treatment plants, he said there was a lot of work to be done on the network, and that would mean increased costs.

With that investment in the network, he warned there would also come some disruption.

“If we’re going to be replacing water pipes in people’s streets as opposed to going after leaks, then there’s going to be some disruption. But people will also see the dividend, if you like, of that disruption being a less leaky, more reliable network.”

Tiaki Wai would be proceeding with water meters in the next few years.

Why water meters?

Peet said at the moment around 40 percent of water was lost before it reached households.

Water meters, he said, would help identity leaks.

“Until we get water meters around the houses, we won’t know where all the leaks are.”

He expected many of those leaks would be on private property.

Water meters would also provide more understanding on people’s water usage.

“We haven’t set a specific deadline, but we need to get on with it.”

Peet said it was a matter of “measure what you treasure”.

What is the value of the assets being transferred to Tiaki Wai?

Wellington City, Porirua City, Hutt City, Upper Hutt City and Greater Wellington Regional Council were all transferring their water assets to Tiaki Wai.

Each council provided RNZ with its current estimated value of the assets and debt it would transfer to Tiaki Wai along with how much it expected rates income to be reduced by.

What do councils see as the benefits and challenges?

Rosamond Connelly, the Upper Hutt councillor for Greater Wellington, said progress was going “swimmingly” and Tiaki Wai would be ready to take the reins come 1 July.

“The new water entity will look after everything, including the assets – so that’s drinking water assets, wastewater assets and pipe stormwater – and this means that the new entity can make decisions about the whole of life costs of new assets versus maintenance and renewals and how much it will need to bill consumers to pay for the operational costs [and] plan for capital expenditure.”

Tiaki Wai, she said, would provide for “a proper investment pathway”, but that investment would come at an increased cost to water consumers.

“Hopefully, over time, this will lead to significant improvement in our water assets, for example, less leaky pipes, fewer wastewater overflows into rivers and harbours, and more drought resilience and sustainable water supply in summer.”

Lower Hutt Mayor Ken Laben said Tiaki Wai “promises to be a game-changer”.

“It will lead to councils working closely together to provide a better job of providing safe drinking water, and managing wastewater and stormwater, to benefit everyone.

“There’s no secret that there’s been an historical lack of investment in water infrastructure around the motu. This is something that Tiaki Wai, with its strong regional view, will address over the coming years. It’s a big job but one that must be done so our region can prosper and grow,” he said.

Wellington Mayor Andrew Little also expected to see benefits in how the water network was maintained, with more commitment to investment.

“In a city like Wellington, which is, in the Wellington region, subject to seismic movement, actually making sure we’re maintaining our water systems, our water infrastructure is critical to being a modern, liveable city,” he said.

With climate change and more intense weather events, he also hoped to see investment in stormwater systems to cope with those conditions.

Little said one of the biggest challenges ahead would be the cost of future water charges, which he expected would add to household costs.

“The company has to work on the basis of meeting the cost of their assets over time, generating enough revenue so they’ve got enough to do the things, maintain the infrastructure and provide the services that people want,” he said.

“That’s something that the councils as owners of the organisation are going to have to be conscious of as well in terms of future rates setting. So that’s going to be the challenge.”

Upper Hutt Mayor Peri Zee had a similar sentiment.

“The challenge for Tiaki Wai is to meet increased regulatory standards, catch up on decades of underinvestment and provide for growth while keeping water charges affordable,” she said.

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said residents would likely continue to see rising costs reflected in their water bills as a result of historic underinvestment in water infrastructure.

“Over time, people should expect to see water meters introduced more widely. That is necessary to properly manage the network. The benefits won’t be immediate, but in time we should see fewer leaks, fewer sewage overflows, and better outcomes for streams and waterways.”

She said residents would also deal directly with Tiaki Wai for water issues rather than the council, and councils would no longer have direct operational control.

“That is a significant shift in how services are delivered.”

She said the fundamentals of how councils operated was changing.

“Those changes are part of why mayors across the region are actively discussing what future arrangements make sense, including greater collaboration and amalgamation.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand