Since 1 July 2026, Lower Hutt’s water services have started flowing from a new regional organisation, Tiaki Wai. Here are the key things to know about what’s changed and what it means for you.
1. Tiaki Wai is the new organisation delivering our water services: Tiaki Wai is responsible for delivering drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services across the Wellington metropolitan area, replacing Wellington Water. They own and operate the water assets of the four metropolitan Councils and Greater Wellington. This decision follows the government's Local Water Done Well directive and was made after public consultation in 2025, with 74 percent of Lower Hutt respondents expressing support.
2. The name Tiaki Wai means “carers for water” in te reo Māori: It was gifted by mana whenua iwi Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika and reflects a shared commitment to protecting water and upholding te mana o te wai.
3. Tiaki Wai is publicly owned, not private: It is co-owned by the four metropolitan councils (Hutt City, Upper Hutt City, Wellington City, Porirua City) and Greater Wellington, and governed together with mana whenua partners Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika. As a council-controlled organisation, rather than a private company, its assets stay in public hands and cannot be sold. Tiaki Wai must follow strict financial guidelines and is not allowed to issue dividends.
4. Tiaki Wai is governed and independently regulated: Tiaki Wai is governed by a new Board, Chaired by Will Peet, while representatives from each council and Ngāti Toa and Taranaki Whānui with oversight via the newly established Partners Committee. Mayor Ken Laban and Councillor Simon Edwards are the Council's representatives on this Committee. Tiaki Wai is regulated by several national and regional bodies to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable water. Compliance and standards are monitored by the Commerce Commission (e.g. investment, and pricing), the Water Services Authority | Taumata Arowai, Greater Wellington Regional Council, and the Department of Internal Affairs.
5. Tiaki Wai is set up to take a long‑term, regional approach to fixing the network: Because Tiaki Wai is managing water services for the whole Wellington metro region and has greater funding autonomy, it can plan investment over decades, rather than being tied to individual councils’ annual and long‑term plans. This makes it easier to fund major, sustained upgrades across the whole network, building regional water services that are fit for the future.
6. Your water services will keep running: Day-to-day services like fixing leaks, maintaining pipes and responding to faults will continue. Tiaki Wai has taken on the existing Wellington Water operational and support teams to ensure continuity of expertise and services.
7. Water charges will move off Council rates: Water charges are longer be included in Hutt City Council rates bills. Instead, customers will receive separate water services bills from Tiaki Wai around the same time as rates bills each quarter.
If you have received separate bills for water meter usage from Hutt City Council in the past, these will instead be sent by Tiaki Wai.
Hutt City Council has a tool that lets you enter your property address and see an estimate of your HCC rates bill from July 2026, based on the Draft Annual Plan 2026-27. Check it out here.
There's also a tool for you to estimate your separate Tiaki Wai water services bill from July 2026, based on their Water Services Strategy 2026-27. Check it out here.
Tiaki Wai has a billing webpage, where you can find all the latest information.
Video description: Find out about changes to billing for water services and how to pay
8. The price of water services: The Tiaki Wai Water Services Strategy 2026/27 released on 16 June shows that the average increase in charges across all four cities will be about $5.60 a week above what people have been paying through their rates. This is lower than initially projected.
The average water services bill for 2026/27 across all four cities will be $2,390 – a 13.3% increase on the $2,100 currently paid through rates. This is lower than the 14.7 percent increase projected in the draft strategy in March. Future increases will also be less steep than projected. Read more here.
The exact amount will vary from property to property, in the same way rates vary.
The next Water Services Strategy will further refine these projections as investment plans, service levels and financial assumptions are further developed.
9. Assistance for people struggling to pay, and rates rebate: Tiaki Wai is conscious that everyone is facing rising costs on all sides and intends to support eligible residential customers who are temporarily unable to meet their water services charges. Read the Tiaki Wai Debtors Management and Hardship Policy on the Have Your Say website.
Tiaki Wai says no household will have the water cut off just because they are struggling to pay their water services charges.
The Government's rates rebate scheme is operated by the Department of Internal Affairs and administered by councils on behalf of DIA.
Hutt City Council continues to administer the Rates Rebate scheme for Lower Hutt and will include your Tiaki Wai water charges when calculating your total rates payable. This means your water charges may help you qualify for a rebate, or increase the amount you receive.
However, any approved rates rebate will be applied to your council rates account only. It will not be applied to your Tiaki Wai water charges.
Please refer to the Department of Internal Affairs website for further information about Rates Rebates and details about how to apply.
10. What does it mean for properties that are not currently connected to water and wastewater services? Currently, under Hutt City Council’s rating policy, properties that are within 100m of the water supply network but are not connected are charged 50% of the water targeted rate. For wastewater, properties that are not connected to the wastewater network are not charged wastewater targeted rates. The Tiaki Wai pricing policy for 2026/27 carries these existing arrangements forward.
11. Charges over the long term: Tiaki Wai customers will need to pay more over time. The Water Services Strategy focuses on establishing a stable financial and operational foundation for Tiaki Wai.
This means setting a pathway that enables increased spending on servicing and maintaining the network to reduce the risk of outages and failures and setting a revenue pathway that improves the overall financial position.
12. Pricing won’t be uniform across the region straight away: In the first year after transition, water charges will largely reflect the existing five council pricing structures. This means households in different areas may pay different amounts. Over time, Tiaki Wai will work toward a common regional pricing approach. All councils have been clear that household affordability must stay central as decisions are made about future water charges and infrastructure investment. More information on charging can be found on the Tiaki Wai website.
13. The key water projects for 2026/27 in Lower Hutt:
Wastewater
- Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant sludge dryer replacement.
- Hutt Valley Floor wastewater infrastructure to support growth.
Drinking water
- Continued investment in fixing leaks and pipe network renewals
- Progressing the case for water metering (regionwide)
- Gear Island and Waterloo wells replacements to boost regional water supply resilience
- Construction of a new reservoir in the Eastern Hills that will provide more water storage, improve water service resilience and enable growth
Stormwater
- Hutt Valley Floor stormwater infrastructure to support growth
- Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi (Riverlink) stormwater outlets upsized
- Te Mome Pump Station renewal and optimisation. (Petone/Gracefield area)
14. Providing feedback to Tiaki Wai: The decisions Tiaki Wai makes will affect residents, businesses and communities in different ways. It is important that people who are likely to be affected by decisions are informed and have the opportunity to provide their views when necessary.
The Tiaki Wai Significance and Engagement Policy sets out how and when you can expect to hear from them.
Tiaki Wai commits to engaging with the public on the following:
- Water Services Strategy (the 2027-37 Water Services Strategy will be consulted on in early 2027)
- significant Tiaki Wai decisions on projects or proposals, especially where they affect particular locations or communities
- any decisions relating to joint water service provider arrangements outside their current service delivery area
- decisions about significant contracts where the proposal or project hasn’t already been subject to engagement, for example through the Water Services Strategy, and in line with legal requirements.
15. Who do I contact now?
Get in touch with Tiaki Wai for any water-related queries.
If your fault or leak is urgent call 0800 TIAKI WAI (0800 842 549) any time. An urgent fault or leak is one causing flooding, property damage or no drinking water. Non-urgent reports made outside of business hours (Monday–Friday 8am-5pm) will be looked at on the next business day. You can also report an issue online.
He pātai? Any questions?
Check out the FAQs on the Tiaki Wai website. If you have questions about the establishment of Tiaki Wai, you can get in touch via their online form.
Content based on original article by Wellington City Council and used with permission