Dam it, unless we meter later-Council?s ponder water options
By Tim O?Connell
The ball is in the court of Wellington?s four cities in terms of sustaining our water supply, as the Greater Wellington Regional Council looks for a solution. Concerns have been raised lately that the region?s population growth is beginning to take its toll on the ability to cope with increased water consumption in the future. To alleviate this, Greater Wellington Regional Council has been investigating building a $142 million dam at Whakatikei near Upper Hutt and a host of other measures to shore up the region's bulk water supply. But while the concept of metering water usage has also been floated, it seems that unless the public conserves water more aggressively, a new dam will eventually be needed. Speaking to Radio New Zealand in March, GWRC chair Fran Wilde says water metering could cost about half the price of the dam, but decisions must ultimately be made by each council - and quickly. Wellington Regional Council currently oversees the provision of bulk water to Hutt, Porirua, Upper Hutt and Wellington Cities. While the water is ultimately held in reservoirs owned by the respective councils, GWRC manages four water treatment plants, 15 pumping stations and just over 180 kilometres of large-diameter pipelines to manage the water supply. It is understood that the council?s water assets are valued at $296 million. Current estimates of how much each person uses daily differ greatly from between 168 litres a day through to a just below 500 litres. However, Regional Council figures indicating the present supply at around 150 million litres to meet the needs of over 370,000 people would place the average daily use at closer to 405 litres per person per day.
