There are a few things to think about with your water if you are in the process of buying or selling your property.
Purchasing a property and moving in
You don’t need to do anything to begin with.
Property owners:
You will receive one bill each quarter, which will include your fixed drinking water supply and wastewater charges and, where applicable, your metered (volumetric) water charges, based on how much water you use.
So, this means for:
- Metered properties: You’ll receive your bill after each meter reading (approximately every 90 days). Meter readings are taken on a rolling schedule across the district.
- Non-metered properties: You’ll be billed in the first month of each quarter (July, October, January, April).
Tenants:
Property owners are billed, not tenants. Tenants won’t receive 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 property manager or landlord.
Your new account number
When a property changes ownership, we create a new account with a new account number. This also applies if you move to another property within the district.
We do not carry over any information about the previous owner, including billing or payment arrangements.
Your account number will also change if:
- You change the account name from a business name to a personal name
- Your meter is reclassified (to or from residential to business)
- You create a trust (change of ownership).
If you have a MyWater account set up, this will automatically update with the new account number. If you are having any issues, please contact our customer service team.
Selling a property and moving out
You don’t need to contact us. Your solicitor will contact us to close your old account.
Property owners
As the property owner, it’s your responsibility to check that your solicitor has:
- Advised us of the settlement date
- Requested a final meter reading
- Received and paid the final bill on your behalf.
Once your solicitor has completed all of this, you can concentrate on moving day.
Solicitors
Request an out-of-cycle or final water meter reading for a property through MyWater.
How to verify your meter reading
1. Find your meter
- Your water meter is in a blue toby box inset into the ground, usually located near the roadside at the front of your property.
- The box has a small hole at one side where you can insert a screwdriver to flip it open.
- Inside the box your water meter may have a lid which can be opened to show the dial.
2. Read your meter
- On the water meter the black numbers show the number of complete water units that have been used.
- 1 unit = 1 cubic metre of water (or 1,000 litres of water, around 100 buckets).
- Red numbers show smaller units (see diagram below).
- Your water meter account lists your water meter reading as the ‘present meter reading’.
- The water meter dial is cumulative, so it doesn’t reset itself to zero each year.
- You may want to make a note of your current water meter reading, so you can compare your water use next time you check your meter.
- We recommend you check your water meter regularly, especially in summer and autumn when households use the most water for lawns and gardens, so you can manage your water costs.