Shared water meter charges

How is the water bill for a common water supply split up?

When residential properties share a meter, in most cases, water use charges are billed as follows:

• Our meter readers visit every 2 months to read the shared meter, and record the total amount of water used by all properties through this meter.
• We send a bill to the strata or property manager for the total amount of water used.
• The strata or property manager then splits the total charge between each property that is serviced by the shared meter.

The strata or property manager is responsible for ensuring water use charges under the shared water meter are paid to Water Corporation.

If you have questions about how these charges are being divided up and paid for on your behalf, we recommend speaking to your strata or property manager.

How do water use tiers work for shared meters?

We use a tiered pricing structure to calculate your water use charges. 

To calculate your shared water use charges, we multiply the amount of water at each pricing tier by the number of residential units sharing the water meter, so that you can still benefit from the lower pricing tier. 

For example, 10 residential units in the metro area with a shared meter and no sub-metering would be charged at the Tier 1 pricing of 0-150 kilolitres (kL) until, collectively, the water use adds up to over 1,500 kL for the current bill year. Once the water use goes over 1,500 kL the charge moves to Tier 2.

To learn more about how water use charges are calculated, including pricing for regional customers, visit understanding your water use charges.

Can I have a separate water meter for my property?

If you want to record your individual water use, you may be able to install a submeter for your property.

A submeter is an individual meter that is used to measure water use for a single property and is connected back to a master meter (i.e. the shared water meter that supplies all properties).

The way you are billed for the water use recorded on an individual sub meter will depend on the type of sub meter installed:

1. Water Corporation submeter.
   
   This is where we install and read a submeter on your behalf and bill you directly for your individual water use. Depending on the billing arrangement, we’ll send the bill to the property owner, tenant or property manager.
   
   
2. Private submeter.
   
   If you choose to install your own submeter, you (or the responsible party) will need to read it to determine how much you have used individually and need to pay for.  
    
   We will only read the shared meter and send a bill for the total amount of water used to the strata or property manager.

Please note: There may still be some leftover charges on the shared water meter that you’ll be responsible for paying, alongside other residents.

For more information about installing a submeter, please get in touch with us on 13 13 85. 

Do my strata fees include service charges?

The water, wastewater and drainage service charges for an individual property are billed to the owner, not the strata.

As a property owner, you are responsible for paying these charges.

If you rent the property you live in, however, we recommend checking your tenancy agreement to confirm what charges you are paying for.

For more information about residential service charges, visit understanding your service charges.

When business properties share a meter in most cases water use charges are billed as follows:

• Our meter readers visit every 2 months to read the shared meter and record the total water use
• We bill the strata or property manager for the total amount of water use based on the water meter reading supplying the group of properties
• The strata or property manager then distributes the total between the individual owners. This is at the discretion of management.

For business water use rates, please visit understanding your water use.

Submeters

If your property has a submeter, you will only get charged for the water you use on your submeter. Depending on the billing arrangement, we’ll send the bill directly to the property owner, tenant or property manager.

Please note that some costs may still be related to the shared meter water use. This is managed at the discretion of the property manager.

Sewer volume charges

Each strata lot that shares a meter gets 200 kilolitres (kL) of wastewater discharge allowance.

When discharge from the complex exceeds the total discharge allowance, sewer volume will be billed and the bill will be sent to the property or strata manager.

For example
For ten strata lots 10 x 200 kL – if they exceed the 2,000 kL wastewater discharge a charge will apply.

Learn more about sewer volume charges.

Service charges

Water, wastewater and drainage service charges are usually billed to each property owner in the group of properties.

The charge per property is:

• Water service charge - fixed service charge (equivalent to a 20mm meter)
• Sewerage service charge - based on the dedicated fixture in each strata lot, unless they are sharing facilities.
• Drainage service charge (metro only) - based on Gross Rental Value