Mahere Tōtika ā-Wai
Water Efficiency Plan
As Auckland grows and our climate changes, using water wisely is critical to maintain our high service standards and support a healthy environment.
Our challenge and plan
The Water Efficiency Plan is how we’re responding to the challenges created by Auckland’s growth and changing environment. It sets targets for more efficient water use, identifies ways we’re conserving water and educating our customers, and how our customers and community partners are getting involved so we can all make sure Auckland’s water system is sustainable for the future.
Opportunities and pressures from Auckland’s growth
Auckland is growing, with the population predicted to rise from the current 1.7 million to 2 million by early in the 2030s. It remains New Zealand’s largest manufacturing base contributing 40 per cent of NZ GDP, and construction continues to be a key driver of the economy. Every year, developers apply for 9,000 new residential water network connections.
It’s the heart of New Zealand’s food and beverage (F&B) industry, with two thirds of the country’s top 50 F&B manufacturers based in Auckland. Those businesses are reliant on clean water to operate and represent 25 per cent of our top hundred largest water users.
The food and beverage industry is backed by a strong national brand that presents New Zealand’s products as safe, high quality and trustworthy. F&B manufacturing accounts for 46 per cent of New Zealand’s total annual exports, and estimates state NZ F&B processing could triple over the next 15 years.
While the economic potential is significant, we need to grow the industry in a sustainable way, maintaining and improving the quality of our water and environment.
Te Mana o te Wai
As New Zealanders, we respect the mana of our freshwater: Te Mana o te Wai. It guides how we manage freshwater in New Zealand and underpins our plan. Preserving drinking water through a water efficiency plan is important to sustain and improve our water management system.
As Auckland’s water provider, we’re aligned to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management.
Water is precious in both a spiritual and a physical sense. Kei te ora te wai, kei te ora te whenua, kei te ora te tāngata: When the water is healthy, the land and the people are nourished.
Kaitiaki values directly inform our decisions on new water projects and maintaining existing assets and services. This comes through both the Mana Whenua Kaitiaki Forum and our internal Watercare kaitiaki team.
Strategy and commitments
The Auckland region is committed to adapting water supply and management to meet the demands of a changing climate and growing city. These commitments have been formalised and then guided the creation of the Auckland water strategy. Our Water Efficiency Plan outlines the actions we’re taking to make a more sustainable water system the reality.
Auckland Council’s commitment Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland’s Climate Action Plan commits to both mitigation and adaptation actions when it comes to Auckland’s water supply. The document details how the council plans to:
- Investigate alternative water sources that consider climate change and enhancing te Mauri o te Wai.
- Investigate energy and carbon inputs for new water supply options (including desalination and wastewater re-use) to inform decision making around new sources.
- Model and monitor climate impacts across the water system.
- Identify threats to low-lying water and water assets.
Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland’s Climate Action Plan commits to both mitigation and adaptation actions when it comes to Auckland’s water supply. The document details how the council plans to:
- Investigate alternative water sources that consider climate change and enhancing te Mauri o te Wai.
- Investigate energy and carbon inputs for new water supply options (including desalination and wastewater re-use) to inform decision making around new sources.
- Model and monitor climate impacts across the water system.
- Identify threats to low-lying water and water assets.
WSAA and Watercare’s commitment The Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA), of which Watercare is a member, has identified risks to water supply and infrastructure along with an increase in the number of hotter days and extended duration of the fire season. To address climate change and its effects, WSAA commits to:
- Engage with customers and communities to achieve a balance across climate change action, costs and outcomes, along with the needs of current and future generations.
- Support healthy waterways to protect and restore ecological and community values.
- Net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
- Conserve water by reducing water losses and encouraging efficient use of water by our customers.
- Improve water infrastructure resilience, including diversifying water sources and improving treatment processes.
- Recognise the importance of indigenous knowledge and practice in water management.
- Implement circular economy principles in our management of water, waste and energy.
The Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA), of which Watercare is a member, has identified risks to water supply and infrastructure along with an increase in the number of hotter days and extended duration of the fire season. To address climate change and its effects, WSAA commits to:
- Engage with customers and communities to achieve a balance across climate change action, costs and outcomes, along with the needs of current and future generations.
- Support healthy waterways to protect and restore ecological and community values.
- Net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
- Conserve water by reducing water losses and encouraging efficient use of water by our customers.
- Improve water infrastructure resilience, including diversifying water sources and improving treatment processes.
- Recognise the importance of indigenous knowledge and practice in water management.
- Implement circular economy principles in our management of water, waste and energy.
Te Rautaki Wai ki Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland Water Strategy The water strategy commits council whānau to a new relationship with water. It sets out a vision for Auckland's waters and provides strategic direction for investment and action across the Auckland Council group, of which we’re a member.
Auckland is poised to prioritise a relationship with water centred on understanding and respecting the essential place it has in our lives. This is the driving idea behind the strategy's vision.
Read the Auckland Water Strategy.
The water strategy commits council whānau to a new relationship with water. It sets out a vision for Auckland's waters and provides strategic direction for investment and action across the Auckland Council group, of which we’re a member.
Auckland is poised to prioritise a relationship with water centred on understanding and respecting the essential place it has in our lives. This is the driving idea behind the strategy's vision.
Read the Auckland Water Strategy.
2025 Target: 253 litres per person per day
2023 Progress: 241 litres per person per day
Our water use targets
Our current gross per capita consumption is 241 litres per person per day, aiming for 253 litres per person per day by 2025.
While we’re pleased to be ahead of target as of 2023, this was helped by recent major events including drought, COVID and floods. We invested more than usual in education during the drought which helped lower water use. Now the drought has finished we need to continue to do our best to use water wisely.
This target is a key part of our Water Efficiency Plan. The plan marks the final stage of our commitment to the Auckland Three Waters Strategic Plan (2008), which requires Auckland to reduce its gross per capita consumption 15 per cent by 2025 (from 2004 levels).
Unlike previous water efficiency plans, this one has a different purpose. Rather than seeking to achieve our water efficiency target to defer investment in a new source (the key focus of the previous updates), we instead want Aucklanders and the environment to thrive.
If we can use and reuse water wisely while reducing wastage, we can achieve this. We’re also measuring water use from specific customer groups and areas of risk and opportunity (i.e. leaks) so we can make better decisions on where to focus our efforts.
Business targets
Learn how we’re helping our business customers reduce water use.
Food and beverage manufacturing The food and beverage sector is responsible for around a quarter of Auckland’s business water use. The sector provides significant employment and generates revenue for the local economy. We aim to support businesses by offering water audits based on smart data solutions. This data will help manufacturers improve their output for every litre of water used.
Our commercial customer team is trained to help companies identify water-saving opportunities. If you’re a food and beverage manufacturer and interested in improving your water use, check out our water-saving tips.
The food and beverage sector is responsible for around a quarter of Auckland’s business water use. The sector provides significant employment and generates revenue for the local economy. We aim to support businesses by offering water audits based on smart data solutions. This data will help manufacturers improve their output for every litre of water used.
Our commercial customer team is trained to help companies identify water-saving opportunities. If you’re a food and beverage manufacturer and interested in improving your water use, check out our water-saving tips.
Auckland Council Auckland Council aims to reduce water use by 30 per cent.
Ways it's doing this include:
- Changing contracts to make contractors more responsible for water use
- Only watering public parks when necessary (in some cases installing moisture sensors)
- Fixing leaks
- Connecting some public toilets to rain tanks rather than the metropolitan network
- Reviewing public pools to determine where water savings are possible
We’ve developed “per connection” measurements for council water consumption to support these initiatives.
Our FY21 council consumption was 1,050 litres per connection per day. We’ll continue to measure this to ensure year-on-year improvement until 2025.
Auckland Council aims to reduce water use by 30 per cent.
Ways it's doing this include:
- Changing contracts to make contractors more responsible for water use
- Only watering public parks when necessary (in some cases installing moisture sensors)
- Fixing leaks
- Connecting some public toilets to rain tanks rather than the metropolitan network
- Reviewing public pools to determine where water savings are possible
We’ve developed “per connection” measurements for council water consumption to support these initiatives.
Our FY21 council consumption was 1,050 litres per connection per day. We’ll continue to measure this to ensure year-on-year improvement until 2025.
Education Our water efficiency programme in schools aims to reduce water use through improved facilities and access to smart data. Over time our target is to reduce the amount of water used per student, which is currently estimated at 12 litres per student per day. If your school would like to become more water efficient, check out our water-saving tips.
Diocesan School in Epsom is reaping the rewards of introducing several water-saving initiatives. Their water use is down and so’s their bill. Watch a short video about the measures they've put in place.
Our water efficiency programme in schools aims to reduce water use through improved facilities and access to smart data. Over time our target is to reduce the amount of water used per student, which is currently estimated at 12 litres per student per day. If your school would like to become more water efficient, check out our water-saving tips.
Diocesan School in Epsom is reaping the rewards of introducing several water-saving initiatives. Their water use is down and so’s their bill. Watch a short video about the measures they've put in place.
Residential target
Our plan is to use residential consumption per connection to measure water efficiency over time. This is much more accurate than measuring the total population.
We know how many households are connected to our network, but we don’t know how many visitors use our water or how many people are leaving, arriving or staying in Auckland at any given time. Our aim is to reduce residential consumption from 510 litres per dwelling per day (our current rate of consumption in FY21) to 481 litres per dwelling per day in 2025.
Non-revenue water
Like other water utilities across the world, we produce more water than our customers require. This non-revenue water consists of:
- leakage in the network
- water used for cleaning mains and fighting fires
- theft and other illegal connections
- meter under-reading.
Our aim is to maintain our non-revenue water at or below 186 litres per connection per day by 2025. As most loss occurs through network leaks, we’re investing in new leak detection services and managing pressure across the network. Based on an extensive trial over 500km of pipeline, we estimate a cost of $111 million over five years to reach the non-revenue target (this cost includes renewals, which are required to ensure that pipes do not continue to break when they are fixed due to age).
Ways we’re saving water
Our goal is to work with Auckland to co-design, develop and implement smart solutions to make our water go further. We looked at a wide range of options to improve water efficiency. Rather than try to do everything at once, we’ll focus on measures that we can implement quickly, are sustainable over time and are likely to give the biggest benefit.
There are four interconnected areas where we can make the most of our water:
- Reducing losses
- Improving oversight from source to tap
- Optimising pressure in our network
- Supporting residential, community and business water efficiency
Learn more about how we’re saving water
Reducing lossesMost of our water losses are through network leaks. To fix this we need to invest in leak detection and manage pressure in the network. Both activities can be effectively driven by centralised data that identifies the areas we need to focus on.
Most of our water losses are through network leaks. To fix this we need to invest in leak detection and manage pressure in the network. Both activities can be effectively driven by centralised data that identifies the areas we need to focus on.
Improving oversight from source to tapWe’ll continue to build a smarter network from source to tap, enabling proactive leak management and making water use top-of-mind for our customers.
Customers with undetected private leaks will be alerted to them faster, and network leaks can be identified without people needing to report them.
Building a smart network means that we’ll develop a dynamic data model that measures loss across the network at any point in time. Greater data oversight will show us which areas are losing the most water and which assets we need to upgrade or replace.
We’ll continue to build a smarter network from source to tap, enabling proactive leak management and making water use top-of-mind for our customers.
Customers with undetected private leaks will be alerted to them faster, and network leaks can be identified without people needing to report them.
Building a smart network means that we’ll develop a dynamic data model that measures loss across the network at any point in time. Greater data oversight will show us which areas are losing the most water and which assets we need to upgrade or replace.
Optimising pressure in our network Pipes with over-pressurised water are more likely to break earlier, and leaks in these cases lose a lot more water. Pressure management reduces the instances and severity of leaks in both private and public pipes and helps our assets last longer.
Through network intelligence and improved control of water distribution we can achieve more stable (and typically slightly lower) water pressure within the network. Water pressure management is an integral part of our strategy to reduce water wasted throughout the network.
Pipes with over-pressurised water are more likely to break earlier, and leaks in these cases lose a lot more water. Pressure management reduces the instances and severity of leaks in both private and public pipes and helps our assets last longer.
Through network intelligence and improved control of water distribution we can achieve more stable (and typically slightly lower) water pressure within the network. Water pressure management is an integral part of our strategy to reduce water wasted throughout the network.
Residential, community and business water efficiency While we must play a role in improving the network, Aucklanders need to rise to the challenge, actively pursuing water savings and conserving more water at home, in public places and at work. To achieve our water efficiency goals, we need to work together
Residential
We’re offering residential customers helpful advice on how to save water at home. This includes info on home re-use and water collection systems in partnership with council, iwi and other local organisations.
- Residential water efficiency programme of work:
- Provide resources, advice and research
- Support Ecomatters and home water checks
- Help customers use data with smart meters
Business
We’re working with businesses to ensure access to the most up-to-date and helpful water-saving advice for their industry and to identify and support new opportunities for water re-use.
- Business water efficiency programme of work:
- Engage with top 100 business customers
- Work to promote re-use and recycling of water
- Introduce complete water audits
Community
We’re focusing on public education in partnership with iwi and community groups. Auckland Council is continuing to improve water efficiency in parks, community facilities and public toilets.
Community water efficiency programme of work:
- Double participation in our school education programme
- Encourage children to be water guardians
- Engage and learn from local iwi
- Identify and co-design local water efficiency challenges
While we must play a role in improving the network, Aucklanders need to rise to the challenge, actively pursuing water savings and conserving more water at home, in public places and at work. To achieve our water efficiency goals, we need to work together
Residential
We’re offering residential customers helpful advice on how to save water at home. This includes info on home re-use and water collection systems in partnership with council, iwi and other local organisations.
- Residential water efficiency programme of work:
- Provide resources, advice and research
- Support Ecomatters and home water checks
- Help customers use data with smart meters
Business
We’re working with businesses to ensure access to the most up-to-date and helpful water-saving advice for their industry and to identify and support new opportunities for water re-use.
- Business water efficiency programme of work:
- Engage with top 100 business customers
- Work to promote re-use and recycling of water
- Introduce complete water audits
Community
We’re focusing on public education in partnership with iwi and community groups. Auckland Council is continuing to improve water efficiency in parks, community facilities and public toilets.
Community water efficiency programme of work:
- Double participation in our school education programme
- Encourage children to be water guardians
- Engage and learn from local iwi
- Identify and co-design local water efficiency challenges
Recycling water
We also need to recycle and reuse water in both business and residential settings. Water re-use is a growing trend worldwide, involving recycling wastewater back into the water network, directly or indirectly. Locally, a citizens’ assembly tasked with choosing Auckland’s future water sources determined that direct recycled water would be the best solution to meet the city’s water needs beyond 2040.
Direct re-use takes highly treated wastewater from the treatment plant and puts the purified water back into the water network.
Indirect re-use takes less highly treated used water and discharges it to another environment first, like a river, dam or aquifer catchment. Some novel approaches include on-site wastewater treatment and re-use for non-drinking purposes, like irrigation of large golf-courses.
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