Groundwater aquifers are the source of high quality drinking water for urban Christchurch, Lyttelton, Diamond Harbour and Governors Bay.

Child drinking from drinking fountain

Our plan

While we need to chlorinate our drinking water temporarily as we bring our well heads up to standard, we are committed to providing safe, untreated water long-term.

In the next 10 years, we need to continue protecting our water supply by renewing infrastructure. We also need extend the network to supply water to new developments.

We will spend $492 million improving and maintaining our drinking water infrastructure over the next 10 years, including:

  • Water supply main pipe renewals ($282 million).
  • Well renewals ($37 million).
  • Water supply submains renewals ($36 million).
  • New water supply pump stations in growth areas ($11 million).

What has changed after public feedback?

We are bringing forward $25 million in capital expenditure into the next three years to pay for work to ensure Christchurch’s drinking water is safe, secure and unchlorinated. The focus for the first year remains getting chlorine out of the drinking water.