Masterton water meters in the pipeline

WIRED UP: Council may introduce water meters to all urban properties in Masterton by 2020. PHOTO/FILE

Water meters may be introduced to all urban properties in Masterton by 2020 after council flagged the idea as a possibility in Masterton's Long Term Plan.

Water meters are shown to reduce water demand by 30 per cent and if introduced will signal the end of stringent water restrictions in the summer, according to the council.

Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson says the idea is budgeted for in the Long Term Plan as a mere precaution.

"It may be that in the future we may have to consider putting in water meters," she said. "Currently we're not water metered."

"Our community is really very good when we have restrictions in the summer time.

"Having said that, there is a big 3 Waters project being done across New Zealand with Local Government New Zealand and other players, and we've got the natural resources plan that's coming out from our regional council.

"It is about the conservation of water and recognising that it is a valuable resource, but at the moment we manage our summer restrictions really well and we don't want to impose that cost on our ratepayers if we don't have to.

"But it's something that we may need to respond to in the future so we have flagged it."

The Long Term Plan as released by the council this year says the introduction of the meters will help in measuring the difference between the amount of water leaving the treatment plant and the amount recorded by the meters.

This will enable the council to detect and fix leaks.