FAQs on the Future of Water Services in Lower Hutt

• Tiaki Wai will own all of the pipes and facilities in the region covered by the councils for Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Porirua and Wellington, and be able to generate its own income and manage its own debt.
• Wellington Water is a management-only council-controlled organisation – it does not own the water assets and is reliant upon the councils for strategic direction and resources.
• Wellington Water currently takes direction from six different councils, meaning it is responding to issues within each area and is limited by council funding and funding cycles.
• Tiaki Wai will be able to view the network as a whole and be more proactive in planning for the long term, resulting in more efficient investment and a more reliable water network.
• Tiaki Wai will have the resources, the autonomy, and the region-wide perspective to effectively manage and improve our water network, for current and future communities, rather than being limited by council funding and funding cycles.
• Because Wellington Water relies on money from councils, their work programme is restricted by how much they receive and the most immediate needs of each area, making them more reactive than proactive. Also, because money from each council must be spent only in that council’s area, they are constrained in being able to plan a work programme that enables efficient and effective management and improvement of the whole system.
• Wellington Water’s reliance on council funding means they need to regularly request further funding to do the work required.
• While it will have much more autonomy than the current joint council-owned Wellington Water, Tiaki Wai is required by law to operate in a much more regulated environment, which will provide a strong focus on water and service quality, customer-focused delivery and value for money.

Tiaki Wai will operate in a much more regulated environment due to new government legislation, which will provide a strong focus on assurance, quality, delivery and value for money. The primary relationship of the organisation will be with its customers, not its shareholders (or owners). Council direction and oversight will be less than under the current Wellington Water model, giving Tiaki Wai the independence and accountability to deliver. It will have an increased ability to borrow money, compared to a council, and it will be able to deliver their investment programme more efficiently.

Tiaki Wai will put out its Water Services Strategy for public consultation in March 2026, which will include its proposed charging structure. You'll be able to provide feedback direct to Tiaki Wai through that process.

Councils have not set aside enough money to fund everything that is needed for our water services to operate safely and effectively. Under any delivery model, water bills will need to increase to meet the needs of our ageing network. The key thing is that we adopt a water service delivery model that allows for increasing investment into the network in a manageable and sustainable way. Based on high-level financial modelling, the new model will result in lower water charges for ratepayers than the status quo.

Yes, the water services component will be removed from your Hutt City Council rates bill and property owners will be charged directly by Tiaki Wai. There will be more information closer to the time about how billing will work and things like direct debit payments.

There will also be a change in your general rates. This amount will be confirmed through the draft Annual Plan process in early 2026.

The Annual Assessment included with Instalment 1 rates invoice shows these charges. Look for Part A that lists the Hutt City Council Rates. Stormwater is currently part of your General Rate, not a separate charge like Water or Wastewater. From 1 July 2026, it will be removed from the General Rate and Tiaki Wai will charge for this.

Water and wastewater rates charges - Annual Plan 2025-2026

• Charges include GST unless stated otherwise.
• SUIP = a separately used or inhabited part of a property (for example, each flat or unit).

Water supply targeted rate

Wastewater targeted rate

A typical connected household's water and wastewater charges

Water meters are expected to be introduced across the region over the coming years. Until that happens, the new water organisation is likely to charge a fixed amount for water services regardless of usage or whether the property is occupied or not. The landlord (owner) will be directly responsible for paying those charges and may not pass them on to residential tenants.

If charges for volumetric water use (how much you use) are introduced in future (via water meters), landlords will be able to require those costs to be met by tenants.

Find out more about water meters in the Tiaki Wai FAQs

Currently, if one area of Lower Hutt has more leaks, resources are targeted there. This will be the same approach for the whole region under the proposed model.

Under the new water organisation, water will be managed with the whole network in mind, as opposed to focusing separately on each city’s needs. Our water network is connected, so investments made in one area positively impact another.

The approach for the new organisation has been developed jointly by the five councils working in partnership with Iwi. The primary drivers for this are that water sources across Wellington are connected and for Māori are considered as one, from the water source of Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River through to Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington Harbour, Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour and the south coast.

The water organisation will have a range of relationships with Iwi, which will be confirmed through foundational documents such as the constitution and shareholders’ agreement.

The Board will also need to have suitable competencies and skills in relation to te ao Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi.

No. Under Local Water Done Well, the Government has committed that water services will remain in public ownership. Councils and water organisations will not be able to privatise water services. The Local Government (Water Services) Act states that a water organisation must be owned by a council (or councils) and/or a consumer trust.

Additionally, the Act introduces a range of restrictions against privatisation. For example, a water service provider may not use water assets as security on a loan.

While Wellington Water manages the day-to-day water supply on behalf of shareholding councils, Greater Wellington Regional Council (Greater Wellington) is still ultimately responsible for collecting, treating and distributing safe and healthy drinking water across the region. Greater Wellington owns the assets associated with supplying this water – that’s 187 km of distribution pipework, four treatment plants, 9km of tunnels, three water storage dams, 15 pump stations, 45km of roads and tracks, 2,688 raw water intakes and wells, 18 aquifer wells, plus all the catchment lands (land where water collects and drains into bodies of water like rivers). The water provided by Greater Wellington goes to reservoirs owned by each city. From there, the water moves from the reservoir to local homes and businesses through council-owned pipes.

This large network of water collection areas, treatment plants, pumping stations and pipelines that supply drinking water to the whole region is referred to as bulk water supply. Providing the water to the city councils involves managing a network of infrastructure, ensuring safe, high-quality, secure, and reliable water sources, and ensuring that our freshwater is sustainable. The councils fund Greater Wellington’s supply of these water services through a charge (called the bulk water levy) which is calculated based on each city or district’s water usage.

The new law, Local Government (Water Services) Act provides a new approach to the management of stormwater services.

City councils will retain responsibility for ensuring that stormwater services are provided in their district but can choose the delivery arrangements that best suit their circumstances.

Most aspects of stormwater service provision will be transferred to the new water organisation. It will own most water assets, including urban stormwater pipes and pumps.  The revenues and liabilities pertaining to these stormwater assets will also transfer.

City councils will retain accountability for overland stormwater flow paths, that is, any flow path taken by stormwater on the surface of public land eg, on roads and through parks. Private landowners will also retain similar accountability for stormwater paths on their land.

This approach was agreed on for three key reasons:

• the urban piped stormwater system has many interconnections with the wastewater system - so investment and delivery have to be coordinated;
• most councils do not have stormwater capability as this is currently managed by Wellington Water; and
• addressing stormwater issues helps deliver on broader outcomes including te mana o te wai.

While city councils under our preferred delivery model will transfer the delivery of stormwater services to the new water organisation, they will continue to have a strong influence on stormwater outcomes in their city or district via transfer and service agreements, statement of expectations and water services strategies.

These changes maintain the responsibility of city councils to consider how they will align land use planning, stormwater services and investment to support the management of stormwater services, and continue to leverage councils’ existing networks with their communities.

For more information this DIA factsheet provides an overview of future arrangements for urban stormwater, and mechanisms to improve the management of overland flow paths and watercourses in urban areas.

Currently, each council in the region owns the infrastructure (pipes and other facilities) within their city or area. For example, Hutt City Council owns the pipes underneath Lower Hutt, and shares ownership of Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant with Upper Hutt City Council. Each council is also responsible for funding the maintenance and development of water infrastructure and does this by collecting rates. They are also responsible for the debt taken on to fund maintenance and improvement of the water network.

Service delivery (the actual work of maintaining the pipes, supplying drinking water, treating wastewater, managing storm water, and improving the water network), is managed by Wellington Water Ltd, an organisation jointly owned and funded by six councils (Hutt City Council, Wellington City Council, Porirua City Council, Upper Hutt City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, and South Wairarapa District Council). Wellington Water receives funding from each council, but that funding is to be spent only on that council's own pipes, rather than across the whole water system.

Because Wellington Water relies on money from councils, their work programme is restricted by how much they receive and the most immediate needs of each area, making them more reactive than proactive. Also, because money from each council must be spent only in that council’s area, they are constrained in being able to plan a work programme that enables efficient and effective management and improvement of the whole system.

Wellington Water’s reliance on council funding means they need to regularly request further funding to do the work required.

Under the Government’s Local Water Done Well reforms, there were five delivery model options for Councils to choose from. All councils have worked through the pros and cons of these options, and considered the advantages and disadvantages for ratepayers. Wellington’s five partner councils have determined that the new multi-council owned water organisation is best placed to deliver the long-term outcomes needed – a safe, reliable and affordable water network.