Digital meters to detect leaks
The rollout of 13,500 digital water meters is under way in Horowhenua, as the district council hopes to stem leaks that are losing a quarter of the region’s daily water supply.
About 40% of Horowhenua properties already have analogue water meters – Foxton Beach, and places such as commercial properties, retirement villages and properties with swimming pools – but the Horowhenua District Council this week started installing digital meters across the rest of the region.
About 60 will be installed each day, and the $6 million project should be done by the end of 2025. The analogue meters will eventually be replaced with digital ones.
Horowhenua loses a quarter of its water supply through leaks each year, between 300 to 500 litres per connected property per day, which puts pressure on water infrastructure.
Shannon is the worst place for leaks, then Foxton and parts of Levin.
Council water services engineer Albert Hoffmann said the gap between identifying problems and fixing them would reduce from three months to seven days.
Previously, the analogue meters were only read quarterly, so it could take up to nine months to confirm if there was a leak somewhere, he said.
“It’s not to make money for charging for the water, it’s so we can identify the leak, get it fixed, and reduce overall demand so we don’t have to spend millions of dollars on water treatment plans and get consents that take years to get through the system.”
Hoffmann said that when neighbouring Kāpiti Coast installed water meters, usage dropped by 37%, and it had had no water restrictions since.
He said Shannon had high leakage, and it was getting close to the council’s limit extraction for taking water from the Mangaore Stream. In summer, the water treatment plant struggled to keep the reservoir full.
A couple of years ago, the council found a leak in a paddock in Shannon where a pipe fitting had come loose. It was leaking 125,000 litres a day, and people thought it was a stream. A 2020 leak survey in Levin found 65 leaks at properties, which saved 350,000 litres a day once fixed.
The new digital meters continuously monitor for leaks, and raise an alarm if one is detected. They will also be read by radio signal, and picked up by a device in council rubbish trucks travelling past properties.
The new meters will detect whether the leaks are in the council network or private property. Property owners are responsible for fixing leaks on their property.
There is an amnesty period if a leak is found on someone’s property and they use more than their allocation.
People in Levin, Ōhau, Foxton, Shannon and Tokomaru pay for water through their rates, which cover 91,000 litres of water per quarter per household, or about 1000 litres a day. If they use more than this, they are charged. Foxton Beach users are charged at different rates per 1000 litres, depending on how much water is used.
Council chief executive Monique Davidson said she expected water usage to drop by 25% once meters went in.
“Not only because we will be able to identify and remedy leaks, but as people become more conscious of their water consumption, they are likely to adopt better water conservation habits.”
She said districts with water meters were less likely to need water restrictions, and less demand meant less water needed to be treated, which saved money.
The council would consult with the community before any billing changes once all meters were installed, she said.