Water

You are here > Home > A-Z of Council Services > Water

Water Overview

New Plymouth Water Supply | Inglewood Water Supply | Oakura Water Supply | Okato Water Supply | Water Saving Tips

The council manages the water supply network for more than 26,000 urban households and businesses in the district. Water is supplied from the Waiwhakaiho and Waiongana rivers, the Ngatoro, Wairau and Mangatete streams and two Oakura ground water bores via 18 reservoirs through more than 700km of pipes. Residents pay for water as a separate uniform charge as a targeted rate. Businesses are metered and pay on a cubic metre basis.

Current water restrictions

There are currently no water restrictions in New Plymouth District.

Fire restrictions

Water connection

For new rural, coastal and commercial users you need to complete a water connection/disconnection form to get your water connected. Forms are available here or from council offices.

Water connection/disconnection form (Six pages 549KB PDF)
Sewer/stormwater/water fees and charges (Two pages 39KB PDF)

Rural water supply

A rural water connection is only available on a restricted flow (one cubic metre or 1000 litres per day minimum).

Water disconnection

You will need to complete a water application/disconnection form to get your water disconnected. Forms are available here or from council offices. For temporary disconnection get your plumber to disconnect the service on your side of the toby or manifold box.

What is the council responsible for?

The council is responsible up to and including your point of water supply. This is normally a toby box or manifold located at your front boundary. This also applies to right-of-ways.

Water treatment

The New Plymouth District has four water treatment plants. These are in New Plymouth, Inglewood, Oakura and Okato.Return to top

Water grading

To ensure you have safe drinking water the Ministry of Health tests and grades the drinking water supplies annually and publishes the results in the Register of Community Drinking-Water Supplies in New Zealand. The current grades for New Plymouth District are:

Plant	Supply zones	Grade	Notes
Inglewood		Aa	Inglewood recieved an Aa grade after the latest register was published.
New Plymouth		A
	Bell Block	Aa
	Lepperton	Aa
	New Plymouth	Aa	Aa is the correct grade for New Plymouth. There is a typing mistake in the register.
	Urenui/Tikorangi	Aa
	Waitara	Aa

Oakura		Aa
Okato		Uu	Okato is currently being monitored and will be regraded. The council expects an Aa grade for this plant.

Note: The present gradings are against DWS NZ 2000.

Grading definitions
A = Completely satisfactory, very low levels of risk (grade applies to the treatment plant)
a = Completely satisfactory, very low level of risk (grade applies to the distribution system)
U or u = Ungraded.

Ministry of Health drinking-water publicationsReturn to top

Water mains refreshing

Water mains refreshing, or flushing, occurs when council contractors open up hydrants for up to 20 minutes to run fresh water though pipe networks that are not frequently used (e.g. in cul-de-sacs and dead end roads).

This sometimes causes water pressure to drop, however it seldom drops below the minimum level targeted by the council.

Residents are notified when water mains refreshing is due to take place by public notices.

Did you know?

It costs each New Plymouth District ratepayer less than $1 per day to maintain a clean, safe water supply. This is significantly less expensive than other regions in New Zealand.
When water is aerated it sometimes appears cloudy. If this occurs, run water through your taps until it settles.
“Dirty” or gritty water sometimes occurs during times of high flow (sometimes as a result of refreshing or fire fighting). If this occurs, run water through your taps until it is clear.
Warm weather can cause algae to grow in the water which sometimes causes water to have an earthy, swampy or musty odour. If this happens, try chilling the water as this reduces the volatility of the compounds that cause this smell.
Internal domestic plumbing can cause water to smell or taste a certain way (e.g. brass and copper pipes can cause a metallic taste and plastic pipes a plastic taste).
New Plymouth water is mildly corrosive to plumbing fittings and may accumulate metals (e.g. lead, nickel, cadmium or antimony) of health concern if it lies for too long in piping. Before using water for drinking, especially after the water has been sitting overnight, let at least 500mL of water drain away to flush away these corrosive products.