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Selwyn Water Limited is a Council-Controlled Organisation (CCO), fully owned by Selwyn District Council.

It manages drinking water and wastewater services for the district.

Selwyn Water was established in response to the Government’s Local Water Done Well reforms, which replaced the former Three Waters programme. These reforms were introduced to tackle nationwide challenges such as ageing infrastructure, underinvestment, and inconsistent service delivery. These issues had raised public health concerns and threatened the long-term sustainability of water services.

The new framework focuses on three key outcomes:

1. Financial sustainability – ensuring water services can fund essential upgrades and growth
2. Stronger regulatory oversight – meeting national standards set by Taumata Arowai and the Commerce Commission
3. Local decision-making – keeping control and accountability with councils and communities

After reviewing options and consulting with the community on whether to keep drinking water and wastewater services in-house or establish a Water Services Council-Controlled Organisation (WSCCO), Selwyn District Council chose the WSCCO model. This approach keeps services in public ownership, focuses on Selwyn’s needs, and enables strategic investment to deliver safe, reliable water services for the future.

You can read more about the Local Water Done Well public consultation here.

The organisation is 100% owned by the Selwyn District Council, meaning it remains in public hands and accountable to the community.

Selwyn Water is responsible for delivering safe and reliable drinking water and wastewater services across the Selwyn district. This includes the operation, maintenance, compliance, and continuous improvement of the district’s drinking water supply and wastewater infrastructure, as well as ongoing development of new infrastructure to meet the community’s needs.

Other water-related services, such as water races, stormwater management, and land drainage, will continue to be managed by Selwyn District Council. With a sole focus on drinking water and wastewater, Selwyn Water can prioritise sustainability, resilience, and high-quality service for the communities it serves.

The transition and establishment of Selwyn Water is planned to ensure no disruption or change in level of service to our community. 

The projects identified in the Long-Term Plan, and any variations identified in the Annual Plan 2025/26, will continue to be delivered. The transition to Selwyn Water will not cause any disruption to projects and work programmes.

Maintenance and repairs will continue to be delivered by our network management contractor CORDE.

You can find out more about current projects here.

For now, Selwyn Water teams are using the Council’s communication channels to manage water-related queries. During the 6–12 month transition period, the Council’s customer support will continue to assist and can put you through directly to Selwyn Water teams.

You can still call 0800 SELWYN (735 996), or use Snap Send Solve to report any leaks or issues. You can also email our Water Services team on water.services@selwyn.govt.nz.

Keep checking our website as we will be continuously updating it over the coming weeks.

These will be notified in the same way that they are now until our website is completed. Customers can subscribe to receive urgent water notices by text and email here: Subscribe to receive our water alerts.

You can also view the planned and unplanned water outages map on our Water outages and Shutdowns page.

Urgent water notices will continue to be published on the Council website and shared via social media. For now, updates will be posted on the Selwyn District Council Facebook page until Selwyn Water establishes its own social media channels.

Selwyn Water will remain accountable to the Council who in turn have accountability to the Selwyn community. A statement of expectations is now in place between the Council and the Selwyn Water including the ability to align strategic work programmes.

Selwyn Water will be required to publicly publish:

Water Services Strategy

Annual Report

Annual Budget

The Council will have the opportunity to provide comment on the strategy and reports.

As a Council Controlled Organisation, Selwyn Water will be subject to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).

Members of the public can request information directly from Selwyn Water under section 35A of the Local Government Act.