Household bills have been creeping up for Kiwis, with the country's inflation rate at its highest in 31 years. With petrol, food and power prices rising recently, Aucklanders can now add water costs to that list.
On July 1, Aucklanders will see an increase in the cost of water and wastewater services by seven percent.
The increase is part of a long term plan by Watercare and the Auckland City Council that will see an increase in water prices per household by around $80 each year until 2029.
"We understand that many Aucklanders are facing financial challenges at the moment, so we encourage our customers to get in touch with us if they’re struggling to pay their bills," Watercare chief executive Jon Lamonte said in a statement.
Lamonte said there are a number of options to assist customers such as flexible payment plans or referring people to Water Utility Consumer Assistance trust which Watercare funds to support customers suffering hardship.
Watercare says the past year has been challenging, with COVID increasing operation costs, such as the price of transport and steel.
"COVID-19 has simultaneously pushed up our operating costs and caused inflationary pressure that’s lifted construction costs," Lamonte said. "But despite rising costs, we are sticking to the price path we communicated last year as part of Auckland Council’s Long-Term Plan."
Lamonte said households with average water use will pay around $1.50 more per week.
The price for 1000 litres of water will go from $1.706 to $1.825, while 1000 litres of wastewater will go from $2.966 to $3.174 and the fixed wastewater charge will go from $247 a year to $264.
"Every dollar our customers pay us in their water and wastewater bills goes towards delivering those services safely and reliably and investing in our networks so we can continue to do so."
The city's water agency Watercare said the money will be spent on upgrading and expanding infrastructure to cater for population growth and improve environmental outcomes.
These include completing the Papakura Water Treatment Plant, continuing to deliver the Central Interceptor wastewater tunnel and building a new wastewater treatment plant at Snells Beach.
