Water
Council supplies water services known as ‘three water services’ (drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and stock water races), to residents of South Wairarapa.
Council’s aim under the Long Term Plan is to provide reliable and sustainable reticulated potable water supplies to the townships of Greytown, Featherston and Martinborough, and to provide stock water-race supply networks from the Tauherenikau and Waiohine Rivers.
Water in our district comes from the Waiohine catchment for Featherston, the Kuratawhiti Street bore for Greytown residents, and the Herricks bore field for users in Martinborough. Treated water is delivered to residential properties through the network reticulation.
As of 1 October 2019, SWDC became a joint owner of Wellington Water Limited. This means that while council owns all its ‘three waters’ infrastructure, Wellington Water Limted is responsible for managing it and providing ‘three waters’ services to the Council. This includes providing planning, advice, design, project and operations management, maintenance, and monitoring relating to the assets and services of the water networks. SWDC sets all the policies and performance objectives that are expected to be met by Wellington Water.
Frequently asked questions about SWDC’s move to Wellington Water.
More information about Wellington Water.
What do I do if I have a water related issue?
If you have an issue to report relating to water (drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and stock water races), please contact Council on 06 306 9611 or do it online via the Get it Sorted page.
Too check the status of a water issue, see the Wellington Water job status map.
How do I connect my house to water?
When you build a new house or business in the urban area you will probably need to connect your property to the water supply and sewer mains. Complete the application forms listed below to get the process started. There is a $67.00 connection fee each for water and sewer. Check with Council officers to confirm if you need to lodge a road-opening bond for the work.
Water Supply Connection Application
Waste Water Connection Application
Paying serviceable rates for sewer or water is recognition that services can be provided to the boundary. This is usually put on the rates at the time of subdivision as a rates relief until the property is built on. An application is required at this stage to connect to the services and fees paid. For full details please refer to the Town Water Supply or Waste Water Disposal Policies. Contact the Customer Services team or ring 06 306 9611 to find out more.
Charges, metering and water allocation
Residents pay an annual charge in their rates for the extraction, treatment and delivery of water to their property.
As of 1 July 2024, the annual water allocation of 350m3 per user (household, business and commercial) is reducing to 250m3, along with the excess water charges which is now $2.50 per cubic meter. This follows a decision made during the 2024-25 Enhanced Annual Plan deliberations as a way to help conserve water across the South Wairarapa district.
The average household yearly use in the South Wairarapa is around 150m3 so this will not have an impact on everyone, however, we recommend learning how to read your water meter.
Most water connections are metered so we can monitor our water consumption and track leaks more easily. For more information please contact the Customer Services team on 06 306 9611 xtn 887.
How do I read my water meter?
A. This is your unique water meter ID
B. The digits with the red background show litres used. These numbers help to track daily use.
C. The digits with the black background show the total cubic metres used. This is the reading that water invoices are based on. If you want to keep track of your yearly water usage, recording this number in June each year will mean you can keep track of how much water you have used in real time.
D. Every rotation of this red arrow = 1 litre used.
E. If the dial is spinning, then water is currently being used. This dial is useful for detecting leaks – if it’s spinning when all the taps are off and the cisterns are full, you may have a leak.
Do I have a water leak?
Council maintains the water mains, but residents are required to maintain the “laterals” – the pipes that run from your house or business to the Council owned pipe, which usually terminates at your property boundary. If you suspect a leaking water pipe on your property, call a plumber. If you think there is a leaking water main then contact the Council on 06 306 9611 (24 hours).
Have a look at our Water Meter Brochure to see how to check for water leaks on your property.
Sewer pipeline maintenance
Council maintains the sewerage network and performs regular repair, upgrade and renewal programmes on the system. Residents are required to maintain the lateral pipes that connect their house or business to the Council owned pipe, which is usually situated in the road or street. If you suspect a broken sewer lateral on your property call a plumber. If you think the main sewer line is broken or blocked then contact the Council on 06 306 9611 (24 hours).
Dumping septic tank waste form
Access Requests
If you plan to perform any trenching or drilling work in an area where there is a risk of coming into contact with a Council sewer or water main please use the beforeUdig website at least two days in advance. If this work is in the road reserve you will need to make a Corridor Access Request by using the beforeUdig website.
