Media Release: Waikato District Council, 7 December 2015
Next stage of water meter installation for Raglan
Raglan residents will be able to check their household water use after the next stage of water meter installation is complete.
While residents already have water manifolds installed, Waikato District Council Service Delivery General Manager Tim Harty said meters will be fitted to the existing meter boxes over the next couple of months.
“We have already connected about 1600 water manifolds in Raglan and the next stage of installing the meters means residents will be able to monitor their household water usage,” he said.
Council will not be charging for water in Raglan until July 2017 but residents can expect to receive three statements over the next 18-months, prior to us billing.
“This will show household water usage and costs so you know what to expect when Council begins charging,” Mr Harty said.
Information on how to read meters will be distributed to homes during the installation phase for the meters. Residents can also expect to receive smart water tips in their mailboxes at the same time.
“It is important to remember that water is a limited and precious resource. We are encouraging people throughout the district to conserve water as much as possible throughout summer. We are currently at Water Alert level one,” Mr Harty said.
Water Alert level one means residents can use sprinklers from 6am-8am, 6pm-8pm and hand-held hosing can be done any time. The Smart Water campaign involves Waikato District Council, Hamilton City Council and Waipa District Council working together to encourage smart water use. More tips on how to conserve water can be found at www.smartwater.org.nz
It’s just an excuse to charge us more rates, especially those with large families and who stay here all year. Still no answer to my question about what they’ll do with the water saved. Still no cost-benefit report. If there was, it’d show what a waste of money it is.
I’ve just spotted the good news in this story. Tim Harty says, “Council will not be charging for water in Raglan until July 2017” and the WDC media release (http://waidc.govt.nz/News-events/Media-releases/Next-stage-of-water-meter-installation-for-Raglan.aspx) has the same wording. So they’re giving us 2 years without water rates to make up for the future increases. Are they going to reissue the rates bills they’ve just sent out?
Just to clarify, Waikato District Council will not be charging for water via the metered system until July 2017 but will continue to charge as they have always done via rates until the meters are fully operational.
Still no answer to why meters are needed or what they’ll do with the saved water. Just a clarification that the media releases are written with the same care as the justification for the scheme. Would also be interesting to see the cost benefit study for spending on the Manu Bay seawall $350,520, Wallis St seawall $86,416 and Puriri St seawall $80,160 (Infrastructure Committee Nov 2015 – http://waidc.govt.nz/Documents-Library/Files/Your-Council/Agendas-2015/151110-INF-Agenda-OPEN.aspx page 80).