Water metering and charges for excess water have emerged as a Central Otago election issue, with one mayoral candidate calling for a halt to the project and another suggesting changes to how water is allocated and costs are set.
Deputy mayor and mayoral candidate Tony Lepper favoured stopping the introduction of water metering.
If it was too late to do that, he believed there should be no "financial penalty" for using excess water.
Mayor Malcolm Macpherson, standing for another term, said he would like to see a uniform allocation of water to all householders connected to town water supplies, regardless of where they lived.
Costs of additional water should be the real cost of supplying that water, "not an arbitrary penalty", he said.
A Clyde-based petition signed by almost 500 people asking for the Central Otago District Council to stop installing meters and charging for excess water use was presented to the council last week.
Meters have either been installed, or are being installed, on properties connected to town water supplies throughout the district.
The aim is to measure consumption and to allow for charging for excessive use.
Water allocations and excess water charges vary from town to town within the district.
The four community boards have set the level of "free" water allocation and charges for excess use, based on the cost of the respective water supplies.
"I've always been a bit cold on water meters and now I've gone through the petition, and seen the names on it, reasonable and sensible people, I've decided I'll support what they're asking," Mr Lepper said.
"I realise that's a backtrack on my part, but these people who signed the petition are from my ward [of the council] and their passion and the widespread community support for this has convinced me we need to push back against these changes."
There should be a better way of setting the water allocation for each area, Mr Lepper said.
"I think we should let the community set those figures and some of the residents already have records of how much water they use."
Although he was part of the board and council which adopted the water-metering policy, allocations and charges, he was now "absolutely convinced" a rethink was necessary, because of the public response.
Dr Macpherson said it was too late to backtrack on meters.
"With installing meters it's too far down the track now. We've committed too much money to go back."
Residents needed to be aware how much water they were using.
"We've been told by the Government we need to upgrade water supplies and so we'll spend multimillions on water treatment.
If we base the capacity of those on our January and February consumption of water, it will cost people a fortune, so we need to get the conservation message across."
He agreed it had been "implemented poorly", saying it was on the agenda for the next council meeting, in October.
The council had problems with a category of water users such as schools, turf-based sports clubs and private parks with public access.
One possible solution might be a tiered approach to the water allocation, depending on community use or social benefit.
The third mayoral candidate for Central Otago, Jeff Hill, agreed water meters were necessary.
"When the meter was installed at my work [Hill Automotive], we discovered there was a leak of one litre a minute, and I'd bet we're not alone in that."
Residents needed to make more effort in conserving water because it cost so much to supply - "and it's not getting any cheaper", he said.
CO water metering has been introduced on all town water supplies:
What does this mean?
• Provide information of water use
• Allow charging for excess use
• Encourage water conservation
• Ensure future water-treatment plants can be designed to cater for moderated demand rather than high peak demand
• Excess water bills this financial year for commercial users and owners of sections larger than 1100sq m.
• Smaller-section owners will not receive first bill until next year, maybe later.
• Excess water charges and water allocation varies across the district, set by community boards.
• Central Otago District Council will review the allocations and charges at its October meeting - report on the matter still being prepared.