Awatere Water Supply

AWS (Birch) - News and updates

Current news and historic information

For current news, updates and historic information see the link at the bottom of this page.

Awatere and Dashwood rural boil water notice

While the Boil Water Notice has been lifted for Seddon township, the Awatere and Dashwood rural areas are still subject to the boil water notice.

Water from Council's reticulation network providing water to the Awatere and Dashwood rural areas should be boiled. It does not currently meet the NZ Drinking Water Standard and may contain bacteria or protozoa that are harmful to human health. All water used for drinking, food preparation or cleaning teeth should be boiled before use.

Treated water is still available at the public taps on Marama Road, outside Seddon School. The water available at these taps is Seddon treated water.

For further information contact Council on 03 520 7400.

Water supply updates via MDC Alerts page

Check the alerts page for shutdowns and water quality notices

Water supply updates via the Antenno App

We now have a new way of keeping you in touch with water supply updates. We'll be using an app called Antenno, which is free to download.

Find out how to receive water supply updates using Antenno

Water treatment

The Awatere Water Scheme is a domestic and stock water supply, and is currently subject to a permanent Boil Water Notice. The water source is the Black Birch Stream catchment, and the water is collected through infiltration galleries under the stream bed. Since mid-2012 the water has been partially treated at Blairich by MIOX dosing, which uses a small amount of chlorine to inactivate bacteria such as E.coli. This treatment does not inactivate protozoa such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium.

The Awatere water supply treatment plant can shut down when the Black Birch Stream becomes dirty due to heavy rainfall. When this occurs, it will take up to a week before there are sufficient chlorine levels throughout the network to reduce the risk from bacteria and viruses.

At these times it is very important that all water used for drinking, preparation of food that will not be cooked, brushing of teeth and ice making should be boiled. Bringing water to the boil is sufficient for this purpose.

During these times of high turbidity, the chlorine treatment becomes ineffective due to the additional organics in the water, and the MIOX treatment plant is shut down. During these events it is even more important to boil the water before consumption because of the increased risk from bacteria and protozoa in the water.

High turbidity in this water supply is usually generated by significant rain events, and it is currently expected that these types of rain events will occur four to five times a year.

Any questions please contact Stephen Rooney, Operations and Maintenance Engineer, Marlborough District Council, phone 03 520 7400.

Network and water quality information

Water pressures in the Awatere Rural water supply area are higher than most areas - all pipework within properties and buildings in this area must be rated at 120m (170 PSI) minimum. This also applies to Seddon township.

Compliance with Drinking Water Standards NZ

Chemical Analysis Reports

Awatere Water Distribution Area Map (PDF, 1MB)

Water rates and charges

From 1 July 2020 all Awatere and Seddon Water Supply consumer meters will be read every three months (quarterly) - in September, December, March and June. Water is billed via a minimum quarterly charge and volume (for Seddon Commercial customers) or via a combined charging structure of a uniform annual Water Charge through Rates and a volumetric Metered Water charge for water consumption in excess of the Annual Allowance (for Seddon Domestic and Awatere Rural customers).

Volumetric water billing is charged through water invoices. The uniform annual Water Charge is commonly referred to as the UAC. The Annual Allowance for Awatere Rural and Seddon Domestic water customers is 275m per Water Charge. Properties that have more than one separate rateable unit, such as an extra dwelling, will be charged more than one Water Charge, so will have a total annual allowance greater than 275m.

The Seddon Water Supply area covers all customers that will be served by the new Seddon Water Treatment Plant, and supplies both domestic and commercial customers. Awatere Rural customers are those within the Awatere Water Supply Area but not within the Seddon Water Supply Area.

The particular charging structure that applies to your property is governed by where your property is located and if the property is considered to be commercial or not:

If your property is within the Awatere Water Supply Area but not within the Seddon Water Supply Area, you will be charged the Rural Awatere Water Charge with a Rural Awatere Metered Water Charge for consumption in excess of the Annual Allowance.
If your property is within the Seddon Water Supply Area and you are a non-commercial (Domestic) customer, you will be charged the Seddon Water Charge with a Seddon Metered Water Charge for consumption in excess of the Annual Allowance.
If your property is within the Seddon Water Supply Area and you are a Commercial customer, you will be charged the minimum quarterly charge up to a set quarterly volume with a Seddon Commercial Metered Water Charge for consumption in excess of the set quarterly volume. As these quarterly figures are applied each quarter but are dependent on the number of days in each quarter, the exact figures will vary slightly between quarters.

These water charges are set out in the Annual Plan Part 4: Funding Impact Statement and Rates or in the Long Term Plan Part 4: Funding Impact Statement.

Go to Awatere and Seddon water rates and charges in our Annual Plan

It is strongly recommended that consumers keep their own meter reading records, no longer than a month apart, so they can monitor their own consumption, know what is normal consumption' for them, and therefore will be able to see sooner if they have an unidentified leak. A simple water consumption tracking spreadsheet can be downloaded via the link at the end of this section.

Council does have a policy relating to the application and assessment of water loss remissions (water leak credits). The policy is set out in the Long Term Plan and is also stated on the application form that is available for download via the link in the Fees and Forms section below, or in hard copy from Council offices. Water loss remissions will not be granted for losses attributable to lack of property monitoring and maintenance, including damage by stock to above-ground infrastructure such as troughs.

For Water Losses Remissions Policy, see page 323 of the 2018-28 Long Term Plan (Part 5: Policies)