The council's water, and what's yours
For now, the city council supplies Tauranga's water and wastewater. That's due to change: on 2 April 2026 the two councils of the western Bay, city and district, decided to form a shared water organisation, planned to go live on 1 July 2027.
Water meters sit in a box in the ground near the front boundary. The council is responsible for the pipes leading to your meter, and the meter itself. Every pipe on the property side of the meter is the homeowner's, even where the meter sits outside the boundary. On shared driveways and in blocks of flats, the council owns each meter, and the owners are responsible for the pipes between them.
Who fixes what in Tauranga
| Yours or the council's | Who to ring | |
|---|---|---|
| Leak before or at the meter, or a faulty meter | The council's | The council, 07 577 7000 |
| Leak on the house side of the meter | Yours, even if the meter is outside the boundary | A plumber |
| Blocked or damaged wastewater pipe inside the boundary | Yours, gully traps included | A plumber or drainlayer |
| Private drains overflowing in heavy rain | Yours | A drainage contractor. Flooding in the street: the council, at any hour |
Tauranga facts that change a plumbing job
A backflow device at every meter
Every new Tauranga property since 1997 has needed a backflow prevention device on its supply, and older properties got one when their meter was installed or replaced. The council owns and tests these each year; your own backflow obligations start at the meter and cover the whole property.
Soft water, with silica
The council classes Tauranga's water as soft, at about 10 mg/L calcium carbonate. It also carries dissolved silica, 35 to 50 mg/L, which can leave marks that look like hard-water scale.
Water finds its own way
The council has mapped 61 km of overland flow paths, across private and public land, where water runs in extreme rain. Keep gutters, drainpipes and soakage holes clear, as it asks.
Wipes and fat block the sewers
Most of Tauranga's wastewater blockages come from wet wipes, fats and cooking oil going down toilets and sinks. A blockage inside your boundary is yours to pay for.
Checking the people, not the company
In New Zealand, a licence to do plumbing, gasfitting or drainlaying belongs to a person, not a business. A company is within the law when the individuals doing the work are authorised, so the check that matters is on whoever turns up at your door, and their supervisor if they have one.
Ask to see their PGDB practising licence, as a card or in the PGDB app, and check it's in date and covers the trade. Then search their first and last name on the PGDB public register and look for the tick or green that means current. Licences expire every 31 March. Our licence check guide shows each step.
Tauranga pages
By job: drainlayers in Tauranga and Tauranga gasfitting, plus our guides to hot water cylinders, blocked drains and emergency plumbers.
By area: Mount Maunganui and Pāpāmoa in the city, and nearby Te Puke and Katikati, which sit in Western Bay of Plenty District.
What we would do
Open the meter box near your front boundary before you ring anyone about a leak. If water is escaping at the meter or on the street side, it's the council's to fix on 07 577 7000; anything on your side of the meter is a plumber's job, wherever the meter sits. For a blocked drain inside the boundary, book a drainlayer straight away, and keep wipes and fat out of the drains afterwards so it doesn't come back.