While Wellington Water is falling short in the capital city, other councils in the region say they are managing the water company just fine because they are spending more.
File photo. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
So far this quarter, there are 1.8 sewage overflows for 1000 sewerage connections across Wellington city, according to the latest figures.
That is against a target of zero - put on by the City Council - which Wellington Water now says is not achievable given the poor condition of network assets.
Councillor Sean Rush, who chairs the infrastructure committee, asked why it was not doable and said he would be quizzing Wellington Water at Wednesday's infrastructure meeting.
"We recommended over a period of time to look to eliminate the managed overflows, to stop wastewater going into the stormwater system," he said.
"And that was viewed by our officers as being the number one thing you could do."
Wellington Water is failing to meet other key performances, like taking almost three times as long to attend some call-outs.
It is meant to take one hour between first notification to the time that service personnel reach the site for wastewater issues.
Instead, it is taking on average 168 minutes.
"I'm obviously not happy with the performance as it is", said councillor and infrastructure committee deputy chair Jenny Condie.
"But I also am realistic that it's going to take us a while for this organisation to get on top of issues that have been developing over a long period of time."
Councillor Diane Calvert believed another inquiry needed to be made into Wellington Water's efficiency, but the council also needed to take a look at itself "to make sure that we are doing anything possible, to make sure we don't have any gaps or weaknesses".
Calvert said council needed to sort out its water, "not cycleways and crossings".
Wellington Water is jointly owned by the Hutt, Porirua, Upper Hutt and Wellington city councils, South Wairarapa District Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council.
When Porirua Mayor Anita Baker entered chambers, the city had similar infrastructure issues.
She said issues remained, but things were much better now after changing the council's budget.
"I yelled and screamed when I first came in, and said they're doing a terrible job, and [Wellington Water] goes 'actually, it's what you're paying us - we can't do what you want us to do with the budget'," Baker said.
"Now we have really good, tight timeframes, all our water is fixed quickly within the timeframes, it's great."
In Lower Hutt, Mayor Campbell Barry agreed Wellington Water did a good job, but it was a long game.
"The service levels are pretty good, there is still some improvement to be made around responding to leaks and other issues we have in our city and community, but that's been a growing issue for some time," he said.
Wellington Water customer operations group manager Kevin Locke said it was working with Wellington City Council (WCC) on solutions.
"WCC and Wellington Water will continue to work together to meet the target by investing in more pipe replacements, flushing the system more regularly and education campaigns."
The people of Wellington also have a part to play in the water company's shortcomings.
Dry weather wastewater overflows are caused by blockages in the system - by people putting things they should not down the toilet.
Only three things should be flushed down the toilet - pee, poo and (toilet) paper.
