Tauranga council adopts water bylaw

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Tauranga City mayor and councillors have today adopted the Water Supply Bylaw 2019.

The Water Supply Bylaw sets rules for accessing and using the council's water supply, protecting the water supply network and responsibilities for maintenance and repair.

The updated bylaw will come into force on April 22 and replaces the Supply of Water Bylaw 2007. The key changes in the new bylaw are:

Addition of a section that specifies all the situations where people need to apply for council approval;

Clarification of the "Point of Supply" and "Points of Responsibility" to clarify the boundary of responsibility between customers and the council;

Requirement for customers to install a backflow prevention device and for customers to inform the council of any activities that may contribute to the risk of backflow and cross connection;

Requirement for the council to be notified before particular types of works are carried out at set distances to the water supply network;

Clarification of the council's ability to put in place water restrictions; and
removing how water use will be estimated when the water meter is unable to record water use. The new Water Meter Policy will set out this process.

Last month the council's Policy Committee adopted two new policies that relate to the bylaw: the Water Meter Policy and the Large Water Users Policy.

As a result of community feedback, small amendments to clarify the intent of both of these policies were made. Public consultation ran between October 30 and November 30 last year.

The Water Meter Policy sets out responsibilities for managing water meters and states how water is metered when a meter isn't functional.

The Large Water Users Policy sets out the council's priorities for allocating water. Under the policy, anyone applying to use over 15m3 of water a day will be assessed on a range of factors, to determine if the activity is an efficient use of our water supply and wastewater services.

Both these new policies also take effect on the April 22.