Supplying your water

Your water usage – restrictions and conservation tips

We buy treated water from Greater Wellington Regional Council and distribute it to you via our network of 685 km of underground pipes, 24 storage reservoirs and 13 pumping stations, making sure it meets the Ministry of Health’s drinking water standards.

We all have a part to play in conserving water, especially in the garden and during the hot summer months.

Using water in summer – restrictions and tips

Summer’s temperatures and dry winds increase evaporation, and there’s less rain, which increases water usage and can mean water shortages.

To make sure there’s enough water for everyone, we restrict the use of sprinklers and unattended garden hoses when daylight saving is in place.

Saving water in the garden

As well as following garden watering restrictions during daylight saving, you can take further steps to save water in your garden:

• Use good mulch – it holds water and protects the soil from drying out
• Remove weeds – they compete for water
• Use your broom for sweeping, not your hose – using your hose to ‘sweep’ uses 1,000 litres of water per hour, while your broom uses none!

View more information on water saving in the garden and in the home.

What else can I do to save water?

Here's how you can help protect the water supply system and our environment:

• Make sure your plumbing system is compliant and in good condition – this reduces water wastage and health risks
• Observe the publicly notified water supply restrictions on garden watering during daylight savings
• Be careful with any public water supply pipes which pass through your property - please make sure we’re able to access the pipes if we need to
• Let us know if you see water leakage or waste, or any unauthorised use of fire hydrants or storage reservoir roofs

By taking these steps you can help maintain the safety of our water supply system and minimise future costs to ratepayers.

What belongs to Council and what belongs to you?

You are responsible for all water supply plumbing fittings on your property after our ‘point of service’.

What and where is the point of service?

This is the shut-off valve (known as a toby) which is situated on or close to the street boundary of your property. We’re responsible for maintaining the water supply system up to and including the point of service.

Our water supply standards and commitments

We aim to provide you a first-rate and uninterrupted water supply service, and to meet the following goals:

Water quality

Water will:

• Comply with the New Zealand drinking water standards
• Receive at least a Bb (satisfactory, very low level of risk) grading from the Ministry of Health

Water treatment

In August 2017, in response to concerning levels of bacterial indicators in the aquifer, the Greater Wellington Regional Council approved the ongoing chlorination of Lower Hutt drinking water.

To maintain our commitment to water safety and to to maintain a safe water supply that meets New Zealand Drinking Water Standards, the water supply needs to receive Receive at least a Bb (satisfactory, very low level of risk) grading from the Ministry of Health.

Wellington Water sought advice from independent experts on the results of investigations into the aquifer. The experts have advised that relying on the aquifer’s natural filtration processes is unlikely to be sufficient to manage potential public health risk.

So, as well as continuous chlorination, ultra-violet (UV) water treatment units will be installed at the Waterloo Water Treatment Plant. This will provide further protection against potentially harmful organisms in our water supply.

Service availability

• The water supply to your property will be available at least 99.9% of the time
• Interruptions to the water supply to individual properties won't exceed 24 hours at any one time

Our environmental commitment

100% compliance with Resource Management Act consent conditions.

 Commitment to our customers

• We'll notify property owners or occupiers affected by planned shutdowns by midday on the previous working day and by loudhailer at least five minutes before shutdown
• We'll make reasonable efforts to notify property owners or occupiers before urgent work is carried out on private property, and we will also give written notification of the work
• Employees and contractors of Hutt City Council and Wellington Water will carry identification: they must show it to you if they need to enter your property
• We’ll reinstate any private property disturbed by our employees or contractors to a standard as close as practical to that existing before the work was carried out
• We’ll help you to work out the location of any public water supply pipelines within your property

 Our timeframes

• We'll respond to urgent work requirements (water main bursts, and significant health, safety and/or environmental risk) within 60 minutes
• We'll respond to non-availability of water supply within two hours
• We'll respond to non-urgent work requirements (non-health related or partial disruption to water supply) within 24 hours
• We'll respond to routine work requirements and enquiries within five working days
• We'll install connections with a diameter of 20-50mm within seven working days from acceptance of quotation
• We'll install connections with a diameter greater than 50mm within 15 working days from acceptance of quotation

Where does our water come from?

A1a - Completely satisfactory, negligible level of risk, demonstrably high quality
Aa - Completely Satisfactory, Extremely low level of risk
Bb - Satisfactory, Very low level of risk
Cc - Acceptable, Low level of risk