Thousands of Christchurch residents stung with bill for using too much water
From reporter Tina Law:
More than 15,000 Christchurch residents have now been stung with a bill for using too much water this summer.
The average bill is $84, but one Woolston property has managed to rack up $2884 worth of excess water charges.
The property has used 2.1 million litres of water across the quarter, which amounts to an average of 23,743 litres each day for roughly 90 days – about 34 times more than the 700-litre daily allowance.
A property in Sumner property received a $1622 bill after churning through about 12,300 litres of water each day between October and January.
In October, the Christchurch City Council started charging people a fixed rate of $1.35 for every 1000 litres they use over the 700-litre limit every quarter, which is the equivalent of 100 toilet flushes. The average residential use is about 540 litres.
The charges were designed to reduce extreme demand on the network, particularly over summer.
Council resources general manager Leah Scales said last month, anyone with a bill in the hundreds of dollars should check for leaks.
“If they identify and fix that leak they will be eligible for a remission of the charges.”
The council did not say last week how many people had paid their bill, but in mid-March it said 812 had already paid.
People have eight weeks to pay their excess water bill, with the first invoices due later this month.
The charges have sparked criticism from some residents, with some refusing to pay and one man, Phil Yarrall has not mown his grass verge since October in protest against the charge.
Yarrall, who has yet to receive a bill, believes it is discriminatory, arbitrary in its application and nothing more than a creeping tax.
In response to public criticism the council is consulting the public as part of its draft annual plan on whether it should increase the daily allowance from 700 litres to 900 litres.
Others have been upset that about 25,365 homes are exempt from the water charge because they share a water meter with their neighbours.
However, Scales said 194 properties out of the 25,365 with shared water meters would have received a bill – less than 1% of the total.
Meters would be installed in those properties first.
Letters were sent to the city’s top water users last year, encouraging them to check their properties for leaks before the charges came into place.
Some households could be eligible for a remission, including families with more than eight members, if the high use is due to a personal medical condition and if the high use was caused by a leak that was repaired promptly.
Water use has decreased by more than 10% since charges were brought in, saving millions of litres
However, the council estimates about 38 million litres of water a day is lost from the city’s pipes on public and private land – about 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth.
Despite efforts by the council to reduce leaks in recent years, the amount of water lost keeps going up and now represents 27% of all water use, up from 18% in 2018.
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Poll: Should drivers retake the theory test every 10 years?
Drivers get where they need to go, but sometimes it seems that we are all abiding by different road rules (for example, the varying ways drivers indicate around a roundabout).
Do you think drivers should be required to take a quick driving theory test every 10 years?
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2% Other - I'll share below
Hero
“I was born and raised in war. To be honest, those are not good memories.
I really like Iran, and I really miss it, but I couldn’t be myself there. Even though my family didn’t like my decision, I left Iran. I promised myself that I would do whatever I can for all communities, especially for the kids, so they do not have the same experience I had.
I studied software engineering in Iran and left in 2006. I went to Malaysia and stayed in Kuala Lumpur for seven years. I was admitted to Lincoln University to do my PhD here, but unfortunately, I couldn’t afford the expenses. I requested a scholarship, but they told me I had to be there for six months first. So, I stayed in Malaysia and did my PhD in network security. In December 2013, I came to New Zealand with a work visa.
It took me a while to connect with the Iranian community here. I volunteered with the Multicultural Council, SPCA, and community patrol, and I established the Christchurch Iranian Society in 2017. Before that, I started working on Radio Toranj, the only Farsi-language radio show in New Zealand.
One of the reasons I started organizing cultural events was to showcase Iranian culture. I wanted to show people that we have delicious food, colorful dresses, traditional customs, and our own instruments. My hope was to show people that we are not what you see in the media.
I am working to involve all the communities that celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in the Nowruz festival in March 2025. We want to share this celebration not only with our community but with the public as well. It’s better when it’s shared.
I remember the first time someone from Dunedin called me and asked, Hero, can you help? Something happened, and they keep declining Iranian visa applications. When I heard that, I felt insulted. We are still human, so how can they do that?
Through this journey, I’ve learned a lot. Every single day, people with different cases call me, and I try to share my knowledge and guide them as much as I can.
I have received several awards, including the Christchurch Civic Award and an Award of Recognition for my contributions to the community during the pandemic. In 2021, I established Canterbury Kia Ora Academy, a charitable trust. Through this charity, I can help other communities as well, not just the Iranian community.”
- Hero
View more stories, or nominate someone: @humansofchch
www.humansofchch.org......
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