Ngā mea e rere tonu ai te wai i Tāmaki Makaurau
What it takes to keep Auckland flowing
Schools are in session, workplaces are busy and the roads have settled into their familiar rhythm. There is still enough warmth to draw people outdoors, but the year is properly underway.
With the city fully in gear, Auckland relies on everyday essentials to keep it running smoothly. Water is one of them. Most of us rarely think about it until something disrupts the flow. Yet behind every morning shower, café opening and load of washing is a vast system quietly doing exactly what it needs to do.
Every day, we supply around 440 million litres of drinking water* and collect more than 400 million litres of wastewater**. Together, the pipes that carry Auckland’s drinking water and wastewater stretch almost the distance from Auckland to London.
That journey begins long before water reaches your home or business. Drinking water comes from a mix of sources, including dams, rivers and groundwater. It is collected, treated, tested and monitored before moving through the network to the homes, schools and workplaces that rely on it. Treatment depends on the source, but the goal is always the same: safe, reliable water.
Then comes the other half of the story. Wastewater from sinks, showers and toilets travels through a separate network to treatment plants, where it is treated to a high standard prior to being released back into the environment. This protects public health, beaches, waterways and the wider environment, while also reducing the risk of blockages, smells and wet-weather overflows.
Keeping everything flowing takes constant care. Assets must be maintained and renewed, networks need to perform in all conditions, and new technology helps us detect issues earlier and respond faster. As Auckland grows, the system has to grow with it.
That is why we have more than 1,000 projects planned as part of our $13.8 billion, 10-year business plan – an average investment of about $3.8 million a day. Around half goes into replacing or upgrading existing assets, with the remainder expanding the network to support growth.
Some of this work is visible. Much of it happens out of sight. But all of it matters, helping keep safe drinking water flowing, wastewater services reliable and Auckland ready for the people, homes and businesses that depend on them every day, now and in the future.
Watercare serves 1.7 million people, from Wellsford to Tuakau:
*Calculated based on 440,000 cubic metres of water per day (m3/day) on average across the year to Auckland, derived from a range of sources.
**Typical average during the year across the network.