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Investing in water services has been a priority for Hutt City Council since early 2020, when a major briefing highlighted the urgent investment required. Council began scaling up investment later that year.
In June 2024, Hutt City Council approved its 10 Year Plan 2024-34, with a focus on tackling generational under-investment in infrastructure renewal, particularly on water assets.
We’ll invest just over $2.7 billion over the next ten years, with $1.62 billion (60%) going towards water services. That includes additional funding of $2.8 million to address water leak repairs in 2024-25, and a further $1.5 million each year from 2025-26 onwards. For every $100 of rates, $46.99 will go towards water services!
We’re now seeing the impact of historic underinvestment, and residents have given clear feedback that investing in water infrastructure renewals must be our top priority.
With that goal at the forefront, setting the budget was still a challenging process. Council needed to balance financial constraints with the need to invest in vital infrastructure, even as our city grows and costs to do the work are increasing.
How we’re tracking
On this page you’ll find reporting for how we’re tracking on pipe renewals and leak repairs, and key projects like upgrading the Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant. We’re also working towards introducing universal water meters to find more leaks on private property and reduce our water loss.
We’re doing everything we can to get our water infrastructure up to scratch as quickly and cost-effectively as possible, but even this significant investment is not going to solve all the challenges we face with an aging network.
Leak repairs
While we’re not out of the woods yet, our extra investment so far has had a significant impact on the size and number of leaks in the public network – and now they’re close to a sustainable level. Below, you can see Lower Hutt’s investment and how we’re tracking on leak repairs for October 2024, or find the latest figures and more detail here.
Wellington Water is also installing pressure management systems at key locations in Lower Hutt. This will gradually minimise the excess pressure in the network, reducing the risk of pipe bursts and leakage and making the water service more reliable and efficient - without adversely affecting water pressure.
But we all have a role to play. Water restrictions are a simple, effective tool to help people understand how and when we need to manage their water use – in a way that isn't a hassle in day-to-day life! If people follow the restrictions each summer, it reduces the chance of moving to higher levels. Find out more about summer water restrictions here.
Pipe renewals
While fixing leaks is important, replacing aging pipes is the long-term key to reducing leaks and sudden failures in the public network. In 2023/24 we renewed 15.3km of pipes in Lower Hutt, over four times more than any other council in the region.
This 2024/25 financial year we’ve budgeted for a more modest 5km of renewals. This is to ensure sufficient funds for essential upgrades at the Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant, and we have some complex renewal projects coming up in future years, such as Western Hills Sewer Main under SH2 and the Jackson St Renewals Programme.
Pipe metres by month | Year to date total | Forecast total end of financial year | |
July | 944 | 944 | 4895 |
August | 879 | 1823 | 4895 |
Infrastructure projects
We’re funding a range of projects for Wellington Water to ensure the long-term sustainability of our water assets and the environment. Key projects are:
Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrades Wellington Water is upgrading the plant on behalf of Hutt City Council and Upper Hutt City Council to reduce odour and discharges of untreated or partially treated wastewater and future-proof the plant, starting with odour improvement.
Universal Water Meters The rollout of water meters to every property in Lower Hutt was approved in Hutt City Council's 10-year Plan 2024-34. Water metering has been proven to help quickly identify leaks and reduce water loss and will play a significant role in protecting our water supply in the future. We’ll be starting a pilot trial in 2025 – more details coming soon! Find out why we’re doing this.
Western Hills Sewer Main Rehabilitation On behalf of Hutt City Council and Upper Hutt City Council, Wellington Water is working on a project to rehabilitate the wastewater pipeline on State Highway 2 crossing north of Melling to strengthen the resilience of the network.
Howard Rd Water Pipe Renewal Wellington Water is renewing the ageing drinking water pipe in Howard Road to improve the resilience and reliability of the network and reduce the risk of land slippage.
Check out Wellington Water’s projects page for all the projects – big and small - happening across Lower Hutt and the wider region.
Further information
Summer water restrictions and emergency water tanks
With other councils, we have signed an MoU to work together on a plan in response to the Government’s Local Water Done Well policy. Read the MoU here, signed by the four Wellington metropolitan councils, GWRC and Kāpiti Coast, Horowhenua, Carterton, South Wairarapa and Masterton District Councils.
June 2024 Submission on behalf of the collective councils of the Wellington region and Horowhenua District to the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee regarding the Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill.