Not a drop to drink?
THE water metering proposal is in the draft WCC Consolidated Bylaw 2012: Part 8 Water Services, which the council is accepting public submission on.
The Wellington Residents Group is concerned about the three key areas of the proposal. The council intends to enforce water restrictions, require commercial premises to instal water meters and pay for consumption, and be able to address unchecked leakage on private property. The council says the water restrictions are to ensure “the primary needs of the city can be met” during periods of high demand, such as supplying drinking water to homes, hospitals and the commercial sector. Meters on commercial premises would be installed to maintain the flow of information regarding water consumption.
“Our system has not proven to be as effective and compatible with our water conservation and efficiency strategies as it could,” says the council on its website.
Warwick Taylor of the Wellington Residents Group says the proposal is concerning.
“We have grave reservations about the council proposing to charge for wastage. What constitutes water wastage? What about a big family that plays a lot of sport and uses a lot of water for showers? Is that use or wastage?” says Taylor.
Taylor also said that the council should “clean up its own backyard” to begin with, as he says estimates of unaccounted council water usage stand at 17-20%.
“They’re not reactive to fixing leaks. I reported a leak about two weeks ago to the council. I thought they had a 24 hour turnaround for fixing leaks and I still haven’t heard anything. There’s been a fire hydrant leaking in Frederick Street and when I rang them it had been reported a week before. They have to lead by example before they start pouncing on private residential homes.”
The Wellington Residents Group previously ran a petition in response to a call at the end of 2008 by then Mayor Kerry Prendergast and Greater Wellington Regional Council Chair Fran Wilde to introduce water meters. The petition ran for two years and gained almost 18,000 signatures.
“Back then the council agreed it wasn’t a good idea to bring in water metering generally, but it seems to be coming back,” says Taylor.
Council representatives were unavailable for comment.










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