New-look water bills will be issued by Council starting this month, to assist people to avoid wasting water and money, and to bring Council into line with industry best practice.
The bills have been redesigned to give householders and bus-inesses an easier to understand picture of how much water they are using, what it is costing them and steps to avoid wasting water and money.
It is easier for customers to see how much they need to pay and their payment options, and current water use is simply displayed.
Past water usage is clearly shown in easy-to-read tables and graphs, making it easy to compare past and present water use and see what it is costing.
An information pamphlet will be sent out with all new bills, explaining the changes and a podcast on the subject, featuring Mayor of Tweed Barry Longland, can be viewed at Council’s website at www.tweed.nsw.gov.au.
There are three versions of the new bills – for individual residences with one water meter, residences with more than one water meter and businesses and other organisations – and they all feature information for each water meter monitored by Council.
The back of the bill will also feature information for residents about checking for leaks, calculating how water wise their household is, and reading their meter.
The new bill format also highlights the importance of being water wise, with prominent information about Council’s upcoming ‘Target 180L per person per day’ campaign.
The Target 180 campaign will set out a schedule for a voluntary and gradual reduction in water usage for the entire region, aiming for an average consumption of 180 litres of water per day per person by 2013.
The program aims to achieve long-term water savings and will set future voluntary objectives as each target is achieved. Target 180 is the current goal, but once achieved, this will be followed with Target 170 (by 2016) and Target 160 (by 2020).
Detailed information about the new bills will be sent to householders and businesses as part of the roll-out. Further information will be available from Council once the bills are in circulation.
