Dear Andrew,

 

Acknowledgement of Request for Information under the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

 

Thank you for your email dated Friday 13^th December, requesting
information regarding quantities of water taken for water bottling in the
region as well as the quality of water lost due to leaks in the system.

 

Your request is being followed-up and a reply will be sent to you within
20 working days of the request being received.

 

Yours sincerely,

Bryn Masters

 

 

for

Luke Troy

General
Manager                                                                            

Strategy

Greater Wellington Regional Council

 

ATTENTION: This correspondence is confidential and intended for the named
recipient(s) only. If you are not the named recipient and receive this
correspondence in error, you must not copy, distribute or take any action
in reliance on it and you should delete it from your system and notify the
sender immediately. Unless otherwise stated, any views or opinions
expressed are solely those of the author, and do not represent those of
the organisation.

Dear Mr Crow

 

Please find attached a letter advising you that Greater Wellington
Regional Council has transferred your OIA request below to Wellington
Water Limited who will be best to answer your questions.

 

“Under OIA I request:

1. Total quality of wanted lost due to leaks in the system. If possible I
would like numbers given over last few years, monthly or quarterly or
whatever. (Basically looking for trend over time)

2. Quantities of water taken in the region for water bottling. I am also
keen to see this as quantities over time.”

 

Ngâ Mihi

 

Sharon Hornal

Executive Assistant to Al Cross, General Manager, Environment Management &
Monica Fraser, General Manager, Maori

GREATER WELLINGTON REGIONAL COUNCIL
Te Pane Matua Taiao
Shed 39, 2 Fryatt Quay, Pipitea, Wellington 6011

15 Walter Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011

PO Box 11646, Manners Street, Wellington 6142
P: 04 830 4234 or M: 027 661 4677
[1]www.gw.govt.nz | [2]www.facebook.com/greaterwellington

 

 

ATTENTION: This correspondence is confidential and intended for the named
recipient(s) only. If you are not the named recipient and receive this
correspondence in error, you must not copy, distribute or take any action
in reliance on it and you should delete it from your system and notify the
sender immediately. Unless otherwise stated, any views or opinions
expressed are solely those of the author, and do not represent those of
the organisation.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.gw.govt.nz/
2. http://www.facebook.com/greaterwellington

Good morning Mr Crow

I have emailed Wellington Water to bring this to their attention.

Ngā Mihi

Sharon Hornal
Executive Assistant to Al Cross, General Manager, Environment Management & Monica Fraser, General Manager, Maori
GREATER WELLINGTON REGIONAL COUNCIL
Te Pane Matua Taiao
Shed 39, 2 Fryatt Quay, Pipitea, Wellington 6011
15 Walter Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011
PO Box 11646, Manners Street, Wellington 6142
P: 04 830 4234 or M: 027 661 4677
www.gw.govt.nz | www.facebook.com/greaterwellington

show quoted sections

Good evening Mr Crow

I am sorry that you have not received a response yet to your OIA request.

As advised, this was transferred to Wellington Water and I have again emailed them to ask for some action to your request.

Ngā Mihi

Sharon Hornal | Executive Assistant to General Manager, Environment Management & Te Pou Whakarae
GREATER WELLINGTON REGIONAL COUNCIL
Te Pane Matua Taiao
Shed 39, 2 Fryatt Quay, Pipitea, Wellington 6011 | PO Box 11646, Manners St, Wellington 6142
T: 04 830 4234 | M: 027 661 4677
www.gw.govt.nz | www.facebook.com/greaterwellington

We hope you and your family stay healthy and safe during these unprecedented times.

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Crow

I have forwarded your email back to Wellington Water and emphasised that you want a response by 19 June.

I will follow up with a phone call tomorrow to bring urgency to your request.

My apology for this delay.

Ngā Mihi

Sharon Hornal
Executive Assistant to Al Cross, General Manager, Environment Management & Monica Fraser, General Manager, Maori
GREATER WELLINGTON REGIONAL COUNCIL
Te Pane Matua Taiao
Shed 39, 2 Fryatt Quay, Pipitea, Wellington 6011
15 Walter Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011
PO Box 11646, Manners Street, Wellington 6142
P: 04 830 4234 or M: 027 661 4677
www.gw.govt.nz | www.facebook.com/greaterwellington

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Crow

 

I refer to your request for information dated 13 December 2019, which was
transferred to Wellington Water by Greater Wellington Regional Council.

 

With regards the first part of your request:

 

“1. Total quality of wanted lost due to leaks in the system. If possible I
would like numbers given over last few years, monthly or quarterly or
whatever. (Basically looking for trend over time)”

 

Please note we have assumed from context that the intention of your
request relates to ‘total quantity of water’ lost and that the wording of
the request as we received it above contains a typographical error.

 

We are able to provide information in response to this request, as well as
context to assist with interpretation of this information.

 

Bulk water network loss

Your request was originally made to Greater Wellington Regional Council
(GWRC). The potable water ‘system’ which Wellington Water manages on
behalf of GWRC is known as the bulk water network. The bulk network
consists of the treatment plants and pipes which deliver drinking water in
bulk to the City Councils in the Wellington region. This network is
distinct from the distribution (or ‘reticulation’) network owned by
District and City Councils that transports water out to communities and
homes, which we deal with separately below.

 

In response to your request, we have enclosed a spreadsheet entitled
Summary_of_Monthly_Supply-Demand_Check_report. This contains data and
calculations used to establish official loss rates in terms of the bulk
water network. The data is recorded month-by-month going back to the
2013/14 Financial Year, as Wellington Water was formed in 2014. The
quantities in this spreadsheet are expressed in mega litres (ML) i.e.
millions of litres.

 

For ease of understanding, we would refer you to the right hand column of
each tab in the spreadsheet (Column I), which contains a loss percentage
figure. This indicates loss rates of less than 0.1% as an annual average,
(with the exception of 0.11% in FY2013/14), with minimal variation across
time.

 

Distribution network loss

We assume that you are also interested in loss within the distribution
network. In this regard there are some key points to clarify at the
outset.

 

Firstly, while your request was originally made to GWRC (who are a
shareholding council of Wellington Water), and was transferred to us,
Wellington Water manages the distribution networks for some – but not all
– of the councils within the boundaries of Greater Wellington.
Specifically, we manage the distribution networks owned by:

 

·         Wellington City Council

·         Porirua City Council

·         Hutt City Council

·         Upper Hutt City Council

·         South Wairarapa District Council (since late 2019)

 

As such, what follows does not represent a complete answer to your
original information request. Should you require equivalent information
for networks in the other parts of Greater Wellington (Masterton,
Carterton and Kâpiti Coast Districts), requests should be directed to
those specific territorial authorities.

 

Secondly, loss rates across the distribution networks are reported as
estimates, rather than measurements. To have more precise data would
require substantially greater water metering across the networks than is
currently installed. Our shareholder councils are currently considering a
proposal within our sustainable water strategy to apply more widespread
metering to the distribution network.

 

Estimates are derived using figures for supply and an approximate
per-household usage figure. With that in mind, we currently report our
estimate of the mean water loss percentage across our managed City
Councils’ distribution networks (with a 95% confidence interval) as
between 13%-27%. This gives a range of 7,150 to 14,800 ML over all the
networks for the 18/19 financial year.

 

This figure is produced using a statistical methodology that aligns with
the "Benchloss approach" described in the Water New Zealand Water Loss
Guidelines and meets the requirements of the Non-financial Performance
Measure Rules (2013) specified by the Department of Internal Affairs.

 

We have recently adopted this methodology because we believes it produces
a result that is both as accurate as possible based on available data,
while also conveying with appropriate transparency the degree of
statistical uncertainty inherent within the scope and granularity of that
data.

 

The estimate above does not include South Wairarapa District Council’s
(SWDC) distribution networks, which only came under Wellington Water
management in late 2019. SWDC does have more meters within the network, so
has historically taken a different methodological approach to reporting
network loss rates. In that context, their most recent published results
are:

 

·         Martinborough Network – 13%

·         Featherston Network – 9%

·         Greytown Network – 39%

 

As you requested the data over time, we refer you to our published DIA
mandatory non-financial performance measures, which are available on our
website [1]via this link. Loss rates for the reticulated water networks
are Performance Measure 2 within those reports. Please note that these
reports employ an earlier methodology, which produces a single estimated
percentage figure for each of the Council-owned networks we manage.
However, while this might intuitively suggest a more precise methodology,
because the degree of uncertainty is hidden, we considered that
methodology potentially misleading, hence our shift to the new approach.

 

By way of comparison / context, we would refer you to the [2]Water New
Zealand National Performance Review (NPR), which allows us to benchmark
our results against other water utilities, with interactive water loss
data presented [3]here (Wellington Water’s performance is easier to locate
by filtering by Large organisations).  Please note that this data is
presented on a different basis again to the DIA loss reporting, and
details on that metric can be found within the NPR reports. Ultimately,
the key point to take away is that based on the Water NZ comparisons,
Wellington Water’s distribution network loss performance is roughly in the
middle of peer organisations around the country.

 

In respect of the second part of your request:

 

“2. Quantities of water taken in the region for water bottling. I am also
keen to see this as quantities over time.”

 

Consents for extractions for commercial water bottling are managed by
Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), who therefore hold the
necessary information. For that reason, this part of your request should
not have been transferred to Wellington Water. However, we have spoken
with GWRC about your request, and they have indicated that relevant
information relating to consent quantities is available on their website
here: [4]https://www.gw.govt.nz/water-bottling-co...

 

Should you require any more information related to commercial water
bottling in Wellington, please contact GWRC directly.

 

If you have any further questions relating to the performance of the water
networks we manage, please get in touch with us.

 

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

 

Best regards

 

 

Alex van Paassen

Community Engagement Manager

 

Alexander van Paassen

Principal adviser, strategic communications

 

[5]cid:image001.jpg@01D4446A.CB455DD0

 

Tel +64 4 912 4400 DDI 912 4444 [mobile number]

Private Bag 39804, Wellington Mail Centre 5045
Level 4, IBM House, 25 Victoria Street, Petone, Lower Hutt

 

[6]www.wellingtonwater.co.nz

 

Wellington Water is owned by the Hutt, Porirua, Upper Hutt and Wellington
city councils, the South Wairarapa District Council and Greater Wellington
Regional Council.
We manage their drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services.

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.wellingtonwater.co.nz/public...
2. https://www.waternz.org.nz/NationalPerfo...
3. https://www.waternz.org.nz/Category?Acti...
4. https://www.gw.govt.nz/water-bottling-co...
6. Wellington Water Website
http://www.wellingtonwater.co.nz/