Palmerston North’s water

Palmerston North’s drinking water comes from the Turitea Dam in the Tararua Ranges and 12 groundwater bores located around the city. Together, these sources supply around 10 billion litres of drinking water each year. This is about 233 litres per person per day.

Drinking water is delivered across Palmerston North through approximately 586 kilometres of underground pipes, which is roughly the distance between Palmerston North and Auckland. Water from the groundwater bores is treated on site, while water from the Turitea Dam is treated at the council’s water treatment plant near the dam, before being distributed throughout the city. 

Just under 13 billion litres of wastewater is treated each year. This exceeds the amount of drinking water supplied because of rainwater entering the wastewater system. A network of pipes and pump stations moves the wastewater to the treatment plant in Awapuni – 441km of pipes, and 52 pump stations.  

Palmerston North has 18 stormwater pump stations across the city that kick in during heavy rain to push the water through the network. With 6,146 manholes, 14 kilometres of open channel drains, 310km of stormwater pipes and 8.3ha of drainage reserves, the stormwater is quickly absorbed or diverted to nearby streams and rivers.  

Water assets make up roughly a third of Palmerston North City Council’s assets.

The city’s residents historically have far lower water charges than many other communities. Palmerston North currently uses fixed charges for water – this means all ratepayers connected to drinking water supplies and wastewater treatment are charged the same, regardless of how much water they use. In 24/25 they paid $415 for drinking water and $375 for wastewater. 

Every property owner in the city pays a stormwater charge, whether or not they’re connected to drinking water or wastewater services. The exact amount depends on the land value of each individual property. In 24/25 the average was $167 a property.  

Water projects make up half of Palmerston North’s proposed capital work in the 10 years from 2024-34.  A big part of that is the Nature Calls wastewater project, which you can read more about on our projects page.

Learn more about Palmerston North's major water projects