My water bill has gone from around $60 a month to $139. This is because of the garden watering.
I don't object to the water charge but they are charging me 78% of the water use for wastewater - at $2.28kl. So another words.the water on the garden is being charged as if it were going down the waste drains also.
When it was part of the rates, wastewater was a fixed charge of around $450 a year. So now it's doubled.
I contacted watercare who say they have numerous calls about it. What are they going to do!
They say I can get a water tank - sure, I don't have the thousands of dollars for one of them. I know what they cost.
Or I can get a second meter hooked up so that it just monitors water use to hoses, and therefore would not occur the water charge. Excellent, went off and checked prices.
The Socam 20mm meter (they use) is $144.50 + GST. Ring them back, no, we are not allowed to install it ourselves, we must have them do it.
So I have to apply and get a quote.
Quote is: WATER METER FOR IRRIGATION $1,180.00 WATER AND/OR WASTEWATER CONNECTION PROCESSING $122.61
Total <Excl GST> $1,302.61 GST (15%) $195.39 Total After Tax $1,498.00
This quote after ridiculous emails back and forth asking me to send drawings, mark where it shhould go (I don't have a choice, they specify where it must go), and then get me to mark where the existing meter is on their photo. I do this and remind them they know this already, they read it every 2 months.
Why the price on quote! Well the meter must have a backflow device. Actually, no it doesn't, they just insist it does. Also this does not include the pipes from the meter to our hoses, we have to arrange this with our plumber. So add that onto it to.
So why the price! Because.
Bloody ripoff.
Husband rang them and one other thing they said, was as our section is only 500sqm, we couldn't have much of a garden anyway.
Devon, Bayleys and other plastic tank manufacturers make 4-5000 litre tanks that can be colour matched to your house and connected to your spouting. They dontall take up alot of room and can save money in the long run.
lythande1,
Jan 24, 12:17am
I have lived in a small town. We were given a 5000L tank when they ripped up the pipes and it affected the bore. It ran out in 5 mins so we got given a second. That would run out too sometimes, we had the spouting go into it too, and they'd top up from trucks. Water use at present is 39kl a month. Ok, not all of that is garden, but sorry, a wee tiny tank isn't going to do much at all. Take a look at our gardens.it's not garden (singular). Even if I settled for a 5000l one, which I could live with, I can't afford it, if I could, I'd get the damn meter.daylight robbery or not. Besides everyone in Auckland has this issue, there was an article in the Herald yesterday about businesses who use water with the same issue, Use water without it going down the drain, that is.
lythande1,
Jan 24, 12:18am
Oh and you still need a pump.
ira78,
Jan 24, 12:57am
I don't know how you manage to go through 40,000 liters per month.We have a spa, fish tanks, water the garden, etc and we're on a 15Kish liter tank and barely make a dent in it.
carter19,
Jan 24, 1:45am
If you have the tank high enough, you will be able to gravity water. Otherwise , yes a pump would be the only option but you could get a tank and pump for the same price as a meter. And they wonder why people don't havegardens.
lythande1,
Jan 24, 2:03am
Look at my gardens. Gardens, not garden. You tell me, we just water every 3 or 4 days, not excessively, but' that's what the bill says.
deathrockboy,
Jan 24, 2:31am
Is there a leak or a dripping tap somewhere! The amount of water they say you are getting through sounds excessive.
trade4us2,
Jan 24, 2:45am
My last water bill is $27 and I water my garden. I reckon you have a leak. I'm going to put in a tank one day!
lythande1,
Jan 24, 6:08am
I measured it. It's around 47sqm in total.
So.10 cm depth of watering = what per week! About 340litres a week. x 4 weeks. 1360litres a month.
trade4us2,
Jan 24, 6:52am
You need to do the obvious. Turn off all taps and see if the meter is going round. If it is, you have a leak.
caspar26,
Jan 24, 11:06am
yea so thats not 40,000l though. you must have a leak
lythande1,
Jan 24, 7:59pm
We don't. We use it. Might seem a lot, but the gardens still have big dry cracks. Parts of it anyway, the bits we ignore the most.
trade4us2,
Jan 24, 9:29pm
I reckon you should find someone who does plumbing repairs and maintenance. and have that leak fixed!
tigra,
Jan 24, 9:42pm
Just been visiting rellies in Sydney. All new houses there have to have water tanks, think it might be financially viable for you at $139 a month even if its just a Sumnertimne problem
lythande1,
Jan 25, 2:21am
Husband is a plumber. I told you, we use that much over summer. The rest of the time, it's back to normal. Anyway I got given a free 1000l tank today. Won't cure it, but hey, every little bit.now just need rain.
lalbagh,
Jan 25, 4:47am
Another possibility is - if you are on the lava flows in auckland- have a water bore drilled , and install a submersible pump.
annrob,
Jan 25, 5:09am
Also ripped off by Watercare. Had a water leak that they fixed. Was told I can only claim reimbursement one every 2 years. What does that have to do with how often it leaks! I note that part of the fee is for maintenance so surely any leak is their issue anyway. The water pipe runs under 3 other houses so if a pipe breaks, do they reimburse all of us for the damage! Or do they put a new one under the driveway! Shared by six other people who won't agree on if it is sunny outside let alone give permission for a new driveway.
marymc,
Jan 25, 5:37am
I know it's been said, but are you sure you don't have a leak! The parts of our gardens we water are at least 4 times bigger than than yours, and our bill was $42 this month. We use about 8kl a month in summer, less in water, the wasterwater charge is $190 a year.
marymc,
Jan 25, 5:43am
This was our bill this month
Water8.00 kL $1.343/kL------ $ 10.74
Wastewater6.28 kL $2.281/kL------ $ 14.32
Wastewater34 days $190.000 pa ------ $ 17.70
Total------ $ 42.76
trade4us2,
Jan 25, 7:36am
It's up to you to have a look at your water bill to see how much water you are using. Anything from 5 to 10 cubic metres per month is good. If it's much more than that, don't wait for two years before you complain about it.
lythande1,
Jan 25, 6:10pm
Good for you. You don't use as much water as we do in winter. You must never use a dishwasher, washing machine or be doing many showers.
We do. We use 14kl normally. There is no leak. Maybe you think the watering is a lot, but there is still parts with big dry cracks, the bit behind garage is now like concrete, so I don't intend to let the rest get like that.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.