Watercare, the council and you
Watercare supplies Auckland's drinking water and wastewater services and looks after its network up to the point of supply at your property. Auckland Council is responsible for stormwater. Everything on your side of the point of supply is yours to maintain, and Watercare's customer contract says you must fix leaks there promptly. You still pay for the water lost.
Watercare's contractors can't repair private pipes, because of liability, and it generally doesn't refund a private plumber's bill. It may in unusual cases, once its engineers have investigated.
Where Watercare's part ends
| Where the line falls | Who to ring | |
|---|---|---|
| Water supply | At the outlet of the meter fitting closest to your private pipe. Watercare owns every water meter. | Leak between the meter and the house: a plumber. In the meter or on the street side: Watercare, (09) 442 2222, option 1. |
| Wastewater | Public pipe inside your boundary: the joint with its pipe or manhole. Public pipe outside: where your pipe leaves the boundary. Manholes on private land are still Watercare's. | Blocked drain or overflow: Watercare before a plumber. It checks whether the public pipe or your drain is the cause. |
| Stormwater | Auckland Council runs the public network. Watercare says water that can't drain away on a property is normally the owner's to deal with. | On your land: a plumber or drainlayer. Public drains, ponds or roads: Auckland Council, 09 301 0101. |
Cross-leases, units and shared sections
At the 2023 Census, 27.9% of Auckland's occupied homes were joined dwellings such as flats, units, townhouses and apartments, up from 19.2% in 2018.
For its boundary rules, Watercare ignores the lines between cross-lease properties and goes by the original title boundary. So the point where its wastewater pipe meets the private one may sit somewhere you wouldn't expect. Questions about which pipes are yours go to Watercare on (09) 442 2222, option 4.
Auckland facts that change a plumbing job
Fix a leak fast, then claim
Watercare's leak allowance is a partial credit on your bill if you fix a leak on your side within 21 days of its high-bill letter or email, or before it arrives. Apply within three months of the repair. A second claim within two years needs the plumber's invoice.
Four in ten households don't own
At the 2023 Census, 40.5% of Auckland households didn't own their home or hold it in a trust, against 34% nationally. Watercare says landlords fix leaks on their property, and tenants should push for speed because they pay for the water.
Flash floods, steep catchments
Auckland Emergency Management says most flooding here is flash flooding, because the catchments are steep and short. Clear drains, gutters and downpipes before heavy rain, and check your section on the council's Flood Viewer.
Backflow devices
Where a property needs one, Watercare installs a backflow prevention device, usually on the customer side of the meter; the owner maintains it and has it tested every year. Garden irrigation is one of Watercare's medium-risk examples.
Checking an Auckland tradie's licence
Plumbers, gasfitters and drainlayers are licensed nationally by the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board (PGDB), not by the council. Ask to see the person's practising licence, on a card or in the PGDB app, and check it's in date and covers the trade they're doing.
Then search the PGDB public register by the person's first and last name, as PGDB's Ask for Licensed campaign advises, not the business name. A tick or green in the far-right column means a current licence. Former licence holders are still listed, so being there isn't proof on its own. If they're supervised, check their certifying supervisor as well. Our licence check guide walks through it.
Auckland pages by job and by area
By job: hot water cylinders, blocked drains, leak detection, gasfitting, drainlayers and emergency plumbers.
By area: the North Shore, West Auckland, South Auckland, East Auckland and the Hibiscus Coast, each with what's different about plumbing there.
What we would do
Work out where the problem is before you book anyone. A leak between the meter and the house, or a pipe that's plainly yours, is a job for a plumber or drainlayer. A blocked drain or sewage overflow is different: ring Watercare first, because if the public pipe is the cause it's Watercare's to fix, and it generally won't refund a plumber you called first. Then check the name of whoever is coming on the PGDB register.