Dublin St pipe springs another leak amid severe water restrictions.
Water loss in the supply systems of Martinborough, Greytown and Featherston reached 46 per cent last year, and the South Wairarapa District Council (SWDC) fell significantly short on response times when leaks were reported.
Furthermore, SWDC cannot confirm that the towns’ water quality met New Zealand drinking water standards last year. The Council has had to give itself a “not achieved” score on its core obligation to provide “reliable and safe drinking water supplies.”
This information and more is disclosed in SWDC’s 2023 Annual Report, finally made public on 7 December. The document sets out significant activity reporting and annual financial accounts in respect of the year ended last 30 June (ie 2022-23). The information would have been publicly available months ago had the SWDC not missed, once again, the statutory deadline – 31 October – for all council annual reports in New Zealand.
SWDC’s significant activity reporting for 2022-23 shows that of 12 performance indicators for water supply, nine were not achieved. The water loss rate in the town supply systems at 46% – up from 43% the previous year – was well above a performance target of under 30%. Urgent call-out resolutions – where faults are fixed within eight hours of being reported – occurred only in 59% of instances which was down from 61% the previous year (target rate is 90%).
On water quality, SWDC has reported “no” for each of Martinborough, Greytown, Featherston and Pirinoa in relation to Ministry of Health drinking water standards (bacteriological and protozoa) throughout 2022-23, but attributes noncompliance to a problem with its water sensors and to a need for “additional investment.” (So, is the water safe? – Ed).
Some progress has been made in reducing both the South Wairarapa’s daily water consumption per resident, and the rate of complaints received over water quality and supply. SWDC has recorded a 51% satisfaction level among ratepayers and residents surveyed in 2023 on water service (39% in 2022), and an improvement to 41% in urgent call-out notifications that were responded to (although not necessarily resolved) within an hour of notification (33%).
Wellington Water is water services provider for South Wairarapa acting on behalf of SWDC, with the latter accountable for service standards and funding through rates, other charges and borrowing. SWDC financial statements for 2022-23 show a surprising fall in operating expenditure on water supply to $4.47 million ($4.68 million the previous year). Capital expenditure in this area was also down, apparently to $2 million, this being largely investment to replace existing assets. At 30 June 2023, ratepayers owned water services infrastructure valued at $43.2 million. … Continue Reading
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