Water Consumption Notices

In most cases, when a property goes through settlement the solicitors will do an adjustment to accommodate rates and charges and request a special water meter reading for the water consumption usage for this adjustment. Council do not adjust water consumption charges, and the current property owner will always receive the notice, even when the usage was from the previous owner. This is why in most cases, dependent on the solicitor, an adjustment is made at settlement. These adjustments can usually be found in the settlement statement. Otherwise, you can contact your solicitor to discuss the breakdown of water consumption charges.

Sometimes when settlement occurs during the rates issue period, the notice is issued to the previous owner. Even though settlement has taken place, it can take us up to three months to receive notification of the new owner from the titles office. If this occurs, contact Council and the status of the change of ownership can be checked.

Receiving your utility notice is often a good prompt to review your water use habits. Check out these water saving guides to help reduce your water consumption, and save money! Increases in usage can be accounted for by:

• Number of days of water usage: Your water rate notice may vary slightly each half year due to the number of days in between meter readings. You can calculate your daily usage by taking the number of litres used and dividing that by the number of days in the billed period (check the dates on your bill). You can then do the same for the previous bill to compare if there has been a change in water use.
• The season: Water use may increase during the warmer, drier months particularly if you have been watering a garden or lawn. Keep this in mind when comparing your current daily usage to the usage during the previous billing period.
• Increase in household size: If the number of people in your household has increased since the last billing period, your water use will probably increase too. Even short term visitors can cause a variation in water usage.
• Automatic watering: It's easy to forget your automatic watering system and it could be using water that is not required.
• Home renovations or improvements: During building renovations or other home improvements such as a newly laid lawn, your water consumption may increase.
• New appliances or fittings: Your water use might have increased if you have installed new appliances or fittings such as a dishwasher, washing machine, evaporative air-conditioner, irrigation, shower heads or taps.
• Leaks: Leaks can occur anywhere on your property and may not always be able to be seen. Find out more about how to identify leaks and how to do a water meter leak test.