Nelson City Council

It is possible to have your water account reassessed after you have had your leak fully repaired. The following is the criteria which all water rebates are assessed against:

Credits for excess water charges arising from the following will always be processed:

1. Misreading of the meter or faulty meter
2. Errors in data processing
3. The meter was assigned to the wrong account
4. Leak on a Council fitting adversely impacting on the metered usage

A credit will be considered on a case by case basis according to certain criteria under the following circumstances:

A credit will be considered on a case by case basis according to certain criteria under the following circumstances:

• Where the leak is a previously unknown underground leak on the main lateral between the water meter and a residential dwelling or under the concrete floor of a residential dwelling (see diagram below) and; 
  • The leak must be repaired by a Licensed or certifying plumber with a brief report on the leak by that person to establish where on the line the leak was found, dates and an opinion, if possible, as to how long the leak had been occurring and;
  • The leak has been repaired with due diligence, being within two weeks of the earliest of the following: The date of the first invoice to identify a higher than usual usage or the date of discovery or when it could have reasonably been discovered and;
  • Only one leak per property, and maximum two consecutive water supply invoices, per 5 year rolling timeframe will be credited.
  • Credit will be based on council’s assessment of the property owner’s usual usage for the period, with usual being the amount used in the same period as last year; these amounts are shown on every water account.
• Extraordinary circumstances outside of the above, which could lead to cases of genuine financial hardship for owner/occupier, or where timely detection of a leak could not have reasonably occurred, could be granted at the discretion of the Council’s Chief Financial Officer.

No credit will be given under the following circumstances:

• Leaks from pipes that are or should be visible, such as header tanks, overflows from WC’s, above ground pipes or fittings and attached to raised flooring or in walls or in ceilings.
• Leaks from reserves, irrigation, swimming pools, ponds, landscaping or similar systems on domestic properties or where the property is un-occupied (regardless of temporary or long term). Un-occupied is taken to mean where there is no permanent dwelling on the property or where the dwelling is not occupied for more than two days.
• Leaks from pipes or fittings on farms*, commercial, industrial properties and un-occupied properties (regardless of temporary or long term) or reserves or from irrigation, stock water, swimming pools, ponds, landscaping, or similar systems on these properties.

* For the purpose of assessing credits for excess water arising from leaks “farm” is defined as any property that is or can be used for the growing of crops, including trees or rearing of livestock, with a land area greater than 5000 square metres.

• Extraordinary circumstances which could lead to cases of genuine financial hardship for owner/occupier or where timely detection of a leak could not have reasonably occurred could be granted at the discretion of the Council’s Chief Financial Officer.

Please download the Credit Request for Private Water Leak application form (167KB PDF).

Once completed, please attach your plumber’s bill and report and email the documents to customer service or post to

Attention: Water
P.O. Box 645
Nelson 7040

Alternatively these can be dropped into the NCC Customer Service Centre at 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson. 

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