Far North water customers won't face cuts - for now

A controversial Far North District Council move to restrict water supplies to some households with unpaid water bills is now on hold.

Although letters warning of restrictions have been sent to some non-paying property owners, no one has had their metered supply restricted.

Late last year, the council decided it would try to force about 600 bad debtors on metered council water into paying at least some of what they owed by threatening to restrict water supply to around 120 litres a day per household.

But public health officials feared that reducing water, especially to low income households, could create unsanitary and unhygienic conditions in some homes which could lead to potentially serious health risks.

The council then found that under health legislation, a minimum of 90 litres of water per person per day had to be made available to a water-restricted household.

This means that at least 360 litres of water each day has to be supplied to a family of four living in a water-restricted house.

The council is now trying to ensure that any restrictor devices that might eventually be fitted to household water supplies can accurately gauge the volume of water flowing into a house.

Another factor holding up the introduction of water restrictions was the council's move now to put the issue out for public consultation to seek ratepayers' and residents' feedback as part of draft annual plan and long term council planning processes.

"We want to know whether people think it's the right thing to do, and whether it's the most appropriate method of debt collection," said council spokeswoman Jodi Hayward.

About 9000 properties in the Far North are connected to council water supply schemes, mostly in the district's main town centres.

Late last year, approximately 1500 were behind on their water bill payments but of these, only 600-odd were identified for potential restrictions.

Total unpaid water debt four months ago was put at $1.3 million but Ms Hayward said this amount had now decreased significantly as a result of the restriction warning letters and publicity about the issue.

An example was Kaitaia where 315 water bill defaulters were sent a 14-day reminder notice late last year when the total water debt outstanding in the area was $164,000.

Within a month and after publicity, only 92 of those households needed to be sent a seven-day reminder notice to pay up, and the total debt had sunk to $49,000 - an improvement of $115,000 in the amount owing.

Ms Hayward said Moerewa, Kaikohe and Paihia were now the major areas of council concern for unpaid water debt.

Most of the district-wide debt still owing reflected amounts unpaid by a small number of big debtors who had yet to heed council warnings or seek advice from outside agencies for help to pay their bills.

Council staff were now preparing an updated report on the amount still owing, and by how many households, which will be presented to the next Far North council meeting.