Wastewater connections

For any new connections on to the Waimakariri District Council wastewater network, on any of the schemes, an application must be made to the Wastewater Asset Manager using the Application to connect to Council sewer form.

Connecting to the network

To join onto the Council’s wastewater scheme you will need a building consent. This must be obtained before any work is started on site. The building consent application must include details of the proposed drainage from the house to the Council connection point and how the existing on-site system will be decommissioned. As a guide, this should include how the system is to be emptied, disinfected, broken out and backfilled, to stabilise the ground and make the excavation safe.

Before any work is started on site, please contact us to confirm that your property is in an area that has access to one of the Council's wastewater schemes, whether a connection point exists to the property boundary and the system has enough capacity.

Property owners need to ensure that there is no stormwater inflow or infiltration into the Council sewer from their property.

The applications are processed within 20 working days. A building consent fee is involved which includes one inspection by a building inspector to pass the work before final connection is made. Our Customer Services staff can advise actual fees for individual situations.

To connect to a Waimakariri District Council wastewater scheme, the application form must be submitted.

Once the application form has been approved, an invoice will be created for the payment of the Development Contribution. Once this has been paid, property owners need to arrange an approved drainlayer to carry out the physical works. To connect on to a Council sewer main, an approved contractor must be used. 

Once the physical works are complete, an as-built plan should be supplied to Council to keep a record of where the wastewater lateral connects on to the sewer main from each property. This ensures any maintenance carried out includes all new laterals.

Development contributions

Development contributions (DCs) are assessed on an individual basis for connections to a Council wastewater scheme. These charges vary by scheme and can be found in the Council's Long Term Plan.

Approved contractors

Because connection involves working on the 'live' sewer system, the work must be done by a Council approved drainage contractor.

Work on any pipes which are to be vested with and maintained by Council on completion must also be undertaken by an approved contractor.