Edgecumbe residents and property owners will be asked for feedback on a proposal to install water meters on all water connections in the town.

The cost involved has been built into the Plains Water Scheme upgrading options proposed by the Whakatāne District Council, which will be subject to a public submissions process in conjunction with its 2016/17 Annual Plan community consultation.

In discussing the proposal at this week’s Policy Committee meeting, Council elected members highlighted a number of positive outcomes the metering of individual connections would provide. These included:

• Future resource consents are likely to require meters, to encourage the efficient use of water resources. Installation as part of Plains Scheme upgrade would allow this to be achieved at no cost to property owners
• Edgecumbe’s water consumption per person is almost three times higher than in other District communities (600 litres per person per day, compared to 220 litres elsewhere), which indicates that there are significant leakages in the reticulation system, either on private property, or from Council-owned water mains
• Metering will help to identify the sources of water leaks and allow the problem areas to be addressed
• Individual metering will mean each property only pays for the water it uses. Properties which do not have leaking water lines could therefore expect a much lower usage cost than they currently pay

Information on the metering proposal will be made available to all Edgecumbe residents towards the end of March. Submissions on the proposal can be made between 21 March and 22 April and will be heard by the Council in early May.