Watercare has revealed that a third of its 40,000 EDMI smart meters are faulty, saying it discovered the issue in October 2024. Photo: Supplied / Watercare
The country's largest water supplier says it will start proactively contacting customers about tens of thousands of faulty meters, following a flood of customer complaints.
Frustrated Watercare customers have contacted Checkpoint about water bills in the hundreds of dollars, which were received after meters stopped transmitting data about water use. As a result, customers received bills saying they had used zero water for the month and faced paying only the fixed charges.
Lizzie from Auckland's North Shore said she investigated her billing after three "zero use" bills and found that their smart meter was no longer transmitting data.
"We received a bill that amounted to about $410 for a month's usage. I emailed them and said this is not reasonable. At that point, I revoked the direct debit authority. I made it very clear I was not refusing to pay their bills, but their bills needed to be based in fact and not just plucked out of the air."
This week, Watercare revealed that a third of its 40,000 EDMI smart meters are faulty, saying it discovered the issue last October and started returning affected customers to manual reading, leading to ''catch-up'' bills that are higher than previous months.
West Auckland customer Kyle said he was on to his second smart meter after the first one stopped sending a signal a few months ago. But he told Checkpoint his water bills are now coming in much higher than he would expect.
"Our water bill on average was about $100 or $120 a month, and then it jumped to about $200, and I'm like, 'Yeah, no, that doesn't seem quite right.'"
Kyle said Watercare made no effort to contact him about the issue, and it was he who raised it with the company.
He said they came back to him and told him his meter had temporarily stopped communicating.
Watercare said the EDMI meters were one of two smart meter models that have been rolled out since 2022.
"We are really disappointed that this fault has occurred and are working very closely with the supplier to ensure Aucklanders are not out of pocket because of it. All meters are under warranty, and we're still in negotiations with the supplier. For this reason, we can't confirm right now whether we will replace all 40,000 EDMI meters. We are not replacing them until we have confirmed a solution, " said Chief Financial Officer Angela Neeson.
Utilities Disputes Commissioner, Neil Mallon, told Checkpoint that he would expect a company with issues with meters to ''be really proactive with communication'' and provide them with information about what to do, such as sending the company data so it can be recorded.
"It should be on every bill, really, to let customers know if you've got an estimate or an actual bill, you've got the power to do something about that. To let your provider know."
Mallon said water companies were voluntary participants in the scheme, but he would like to see them become mandatory, like energy companies.
"I think water and energy are both essential services to Kiwis, and they should be treated consistently. In an ideal world, that's our view. If they were, all Kiwi consumers would be able to come to us if they had a problem with their water provider."
Under the current voluntary membership, it's up to Watercare to initiate an investigation into a consumer complaint. Mallon believed that about 5 percent of complaints dealt with by Utilities Disputes relate to water.
Watercare has now updated its website with information for customers and said it will proactively contact customers with working EDMI meters from next week, "so that they're aware of the issue, and know to get in touch with us straight away if they get a water bill that incorrectly said they've used no water. This will help to reduce the impact of catch-up bills."
Customer last names have been omitted due to privacy concerns.
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