Water and wastewater systems are facing stronger cost pressures than many other Council services.

These include tighter drinking water rules, environmental requirements, growth, and the need to renew ageing infrastructure.

These pressures were already recognised in Council planning, which is why water-related costs were rising faster than average rates even before Selwyn Water was established.

Yes. Council’s Long-Term Plan already showed significant rates increases, and water-related services made up about one-third of total rates revenue.

Those increases were expected regardless of whether services stayed with Council or moved to Selwyn Water. 

No. Selwyn Water is a new organisation. Today’s investment and pricing decisions reflect past funding settings and regulatory changes that happened before Selwyn Water existed.

Selwyn Water’s role is to manage the system it has inherited and ensure it meets current and future standards.

Funding drinking water and wastewater separately from rates makes water costs:

• More transparent
• Makes it clearer who pays for what
• Helps meet national regulatory requirements
• Allows charges to better reflect the cost of providing the service

No. Selwyn Water is not set up to make profits. Any surplus operating profit is intended to be used for reinvestment in the system, improving resilience, or helping smooth prices over time for customers. 

Water rates for 2025/26 were set through the Council’s Long‑Term Plan and Annual Plan following the usual process. From 1 July 2026, Selwyn Water will take over water billing, so you’ll receive a separate water bill instead of it being included with your rates.

An average urban household currently pays about $1,552 per year for drinking water and wastewater. The Council’s Water Services Delivery Plan originally forecast an increase of around 24% for 2026/27 (an average of around $1,924 per year).

Following a detailed review of asset and operational information received after assets transferred to Selwyn Water, the updated draft pricing now proposes a lower increase of 18% for 2026/27, that's around $1,831 per year, or less with lower water usage.

This means that for an average urban household receiving both drinking water and wastewater services (including volumetric charges based on the average urban water use of 257 cubic metres), the expected annual increase has reduced from $372 to $280, a savings of $92 from what was originally indicated.

For households receiving drinking water only, the expected increase has reduced from $178 to around $135, bringing the total annual bill to around $879, down from $922.

While efficiencies have already helped reduce the projected increase from 24% to 18%, this adjustment is still needed to support our fast‑growing district, keep up with rising costs, and continue meeting national standards. This includes the extra maintenance, investment, and monitoring required to keep our water services safe and reliable.

Our proposed fees and charges remain draft with no final decisions made until engagement on our draft Water Services Strategy in May 2026.

You can find out more by reading our media release here.

Yes. Selwyn Water is required to develop a Water Services Strategy, which will go out for public engagement in May. The Strategy sets out a staged approach to investment and pricing, with charges reviewed over time. Future changes will be aligned with the Council’s next Long‑Term Plan and informed by community feedback, benchmarking against other providers, and affordability analysis.

Read more about our Water Services Strategy.

Property owners are currently responsible for paying drinking water and wastewater services through Council rates.

From 1 July 2026, property owners will remain responsible for these charges, with services billed directly by Selwyn Water rather than through Council rates.

Water charges will be invoiced to the property owner, not the tenant. This means there is no change to billing arrangements for tenants, who will not receive water service invoices from Selwyn Water.

Water charges may be discussed as part of a lease agreement. If you’re a tenant and would like to understand how water charges are taken into account when rent is set, we recommend discussing this directly with your landlord.