Residents have contacted The Echo concerned that water utility Rous are now slogging them with a $196 per annum fee for a ‘backflow device management charge’.
The fee impacts around 2,193 of its 110,000 customers, say Rous, and say that a backflow device is legally required on ‘all medium to high connections to the Rous water supply network’ which ‘have increased potential for cross connections with non-potable water sources or potential contamination sources’.
A Rous spokesperson told The Echo the charge was arrived at by calculating the cost for a licensed plumber to undertake an annual test on the device, conduct any maintenance throughout the year, purchase and install the device and replace it every ten years.
They say inspections and testing typically takes less than an hour per connection.
A spokesperson said, ‘We acknowledge that it is another cost for our customers. The project to install the backflow devices commenced in the second half of 2023, and we have delayed the introduction of the charge (to the fourth quarter of 2024) for as long as possible to minimise the impact’.
The policy was adopted by Rous councillors in 2021, the spokesperson said.
The Echo also asked, ‘Why wasn’t this cost absorbed by Rous?’ They replied, ‘Rous provides drinking water to more than 110,000 customers (~41,000 connections) across the region, through our constituent councils and direct customers. It is critical that we are able to maintain control over the quality of the drinking water as it is distributed to all of those customers’.
‘Rous’ direct customers (approximately 2,200) are in areas which aren’t supplied through normal local council water reticulation systems. ‘These local council water systems have different arrangements in place to manage the risk of contaminated water coming out of a property into the pipes, and the consequence of a backflow incident in these situations is much less than [in] the Rous bulk water system.
‘Rous’ direct customers benefit from having access to a reliable and safe drinking water supply, sometimes because one of our large pipes goes through their property.
‘Water authorities are required to undertake a risk-based approach to manage their water supplies, backflow prevention is very common.
They added that other water authorities require customers to pay for the devices upfront, which is more expensive overall.
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