NPDC's part and yours
| Where the line falls | Who to ring | |
|---|---|---|
| Water | NPDC looks after the mains, the pipes to your boundary and the toby or manifold. From the toby to the house is yours. | A leak inside the toby box or on the street side: NPDC, 06 759 6060. A leak on your side: a plumber. |
| Wastewater | A private sewer drain on your property is yours. | A blockage or sewer leak in it: a plumber. Sewage leaking, a strong sewage smell, or a manhole lid lifted, damaged or missing: NPDC straight away. |
A meter on every house
NPDC has fitted water meters at every residential property on a public supply. Before it starts charging by volume, there'll be a period of mock bills so households can see their use and fix leaks first. It puts losses from its own network at around seven million litres a day, 19 per cent of what it produces.
Your meter is also the simplest leak test. Read it in the evening, use no water overnight, and read it again in the morning. If the number has gone up, water is escaping on your side, and a plumber is the next call. Our leak check tool walks through it, and leak detection covers finding the hidden ones.
New Plymouth facts that change a job
Gas heating is common
At the 2023 Census, 23.5% of New Plymouth homes used a fixed gas heater as a main heater, against 9.5% nationally. Fixed gas pipes and appliances, from a heater to a califont, are a job for an authorised gasfitter.
Pools need a meter and backflow
Under NPDC's bylaw, a property with a swimming pool must already be on a meter with a backflow preventer, which NPDC calls an extraordinary supply. See backflow prevention.
Frost is rare on the coast
NIWA's New Plymouth station averages 1.3 air frosts and 8.5 ground frosts a year. Inland is another story: see Stratford.
A water company is due
Wai Hononga Water Services is due to take over drinking water and wastewater on 1 July 2027. NPDC delivers until then and is keeping stormwater in-house.
Checking who is coming
PGDB's advice is simple: don't take anyone's word for it. Ask for the practising licence and check the expiry date, then find the person on the PGDB register by first and last name. Being listed isn't enough, because former licence holders stay on it; you want the tick or green that marks a current licence. More in our licence check guide.
What we would do
Find your toby before you ring anyone. If water is coming from inside the box or the street side, it's NPDC's to fix. If the ground is wet between the toby and the house, or the meter keeps ticking overnight, it's yours. With a gas appliance in the mix, say so up front, because it needs a gasfitter rather than a plumber. Then send us the details and the right New Plymouth specialist can take it on.