From 1 July, Aucklander’s water bills will go up.
Photo: CRISTINA PEDRAZZINI/SCIENCE PHOT
Aucklanders will be footing the bill to help fund infrastructure upgrades that’s costs have blown to over $1 billion.
From 1 July, Aucklander’s water bills will go up to fund $13.12 billion in infrastructure upgrades across the city.
In a plan released on Wednesday, Watercare said it would embark on 1000 infrastructure projects over the next ten years in an effort to make the city’s water network fit for purpose.
The most costly project would be replacing the ageing Huia Water Treatment Plant in the Waitākere Ranges, increasing its capacity, and building two new reservoirs and two new water mains.
The price tag for that had blown from $420 million to $1.12 billion.
Infrastructure New Zealand’s Michelle McCormack said upgrading assets like the Huia Plant was crucial to meet the city’s future water requirements.
“Auckland is a massively growing city and this is just the investment that is required to have a world-class system.
“A new water treatment plant at Huia will be a game changer. As a country, we have high expectations for water quality and treatment and a new plant will enable Auckland to meet these standards.”
But Auckland Councillor Shane Henderson said it was alarming the cost of upgrading the plant had increased so much since 2018.
“Aucklanders need an explanation as to why we’re looking at something over one billion dollars.
“I’ve asked for a briefing with Watercare officials and they’ve agreed to that. I expect them to appear before the council to break down this cost and justify where it’s all going and what has happened.
“We avoided a 25 percent water bill that would have been huge for people. But at the same time, water bill increases directly affecting people’s cost of living and their kitchen table.”
But he said not replacing the roughly 100-year-old plant was not an option as it was expected to handle 20 percent of the city’s water needs.
“If we run down our assets and don’t stay on top of things, we create huge problems for ourselves and huge water bills down the line.”
He acknowledged inflation as well as flooding in the region had driven up costs for Watercare.
Watercare chief executive Dave Chambers said replacing infrastructure like the Huia Plant would be less costly long-term and good value for Aucklanders.
“Some of our pipes have been in the ground since the early 1900s and definitely need replacing.
“The materials used were not the greatest and it just makes sense to replace them rather than continually repair them.”
He said they had to find a balance between reliability and affordability.
Construction at Huia was set to begin in 2028 and be completed in 2033.