Christchurch households that regularly use large amounts of water will begin paying an extra charge from July next year to cover the cost of supplying it.

The excess water use targeted rate, which was put forward for public feedback under Christchurch City Council’s Draft Long Term Plan 2021-31, was approved by council.

From 1 July 2022, the targeted rate will apply to any household that uses, on average, more than 700 litres a day – roughly equivalent to 100 toilet flushes or taking seven baths.

Property owners in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula will pay a fixed rate of $1.35 for every 1,000 litres they use over the limit, with water usage recorded and billed for on a quarterly basis.

Christchurch households currently use an annual average of 540 litres a day – the highest household average of all the larger cities in New Zealand.

Chair of the Council’s Three Waters, Infrastructure and Environment Committee, Pauline Cotter said “under the new scheme, where a property owner regularly uses significantly more water than the average household, they will contribute to the cost of supplying that extra water, which is fair.”

“We know the top 20 per cent of household water users in Christchurch use half the total residential water supplied to the city.”

The Council received a total of 403 submissions on its proposal to charge for excess water use, with 207 of those indicating they supported it.

A further 67 submitters said they supported the idea of charging residential water users in various ways.

Pauline Cotter said “this isn’t about penalising people – it’s about getting people thinking about the way they use their water.”