Pricing, Fees & Charges

Shoalhaven Water issue four Water Accounts per year, each one covering a period of three months. A Water Account will be issued to you shortly after we read your meter, which is approximately every 90 days.

Nowra Bridge

Water & Sewer Charges

A standard residential Water Account is made up of two main items: Availability Charges and Water Usage Charges. A breakdown of these charges will be listed on the back of your Water Account . All charges are GST free.

What are Availability Charges?

Availability charges contribute to the cost of providing and maintaining the water and sewerage systems within the Shoalhaven. The charges are based on the size of your water meter, larger meters will incur larger fees, and properties with multiple service connections will pay availability charges for each connection. Sewer availability charges are based on the proportional size of the water meter.

Water and sewer availability charges also apply to vacant land where these services are available to the properties.

The table below reflects the amounts charged for water & sewer availability, based on a standard residential 20mm meter and for a dual occupancy 25mm service connection.

Effective from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023:

Quarterly residential availability charges based on a 20mm service
Water	$21.00	Annual fees - $84.00
Sewerage	$227.50	Annual fees - $910.00

Quarterly residential availability charges based on a 25mm service
Water	$35.00	Annual fees - $140.00
Sewerage	$317.25	Annual fees - $1,269.00

What are Usage Charges?

Water usage charges reflect the amount of water that has been registered on your water meter. Our meter readers read your water meter every three months (or approximately every 90 days) and with these figures you are charged for every kilolitre (1,000 litres) of water used.

Shoalhaven Water charge $1.90 per kilolitre.

Pro-rata usage charges

Our water usage charges are reviewed each year, any price changes apply from 01 July each year. For bills that fall over two financial years, the usage charges are 'pro-rated'. This involves using a customer's average daily water use to estimate how much water was used in each financial year and then applying the relevant rates to the usage used in each financial year. This is the fairest way of calculating charges as each property will have a full 365 days at each annual rate and water used in a particular year will be charged at that year's prices.

Vacant land service charges

The administration, operating and maintenance costs for our systems continue whether a property is connected to our network or is yet to develop.

In accordance with Section 552 of the Local Government Act, where access to water and/or sewerage services is available, water and sewerage availability charges will be levied to property owners.

A quarterly Water Account will be issued to vacant landowners where the water service is situated within 225 metres of the Council water main, and the sewerage system is situated within 75 metres of the Council sewerage main.

Pensioner concession

Visit Shoalhaven City Council’s Pensioner Concession information page to find out if you are eligible and how to apply.

Visit our Pensioner Concessions page to find out how the rebate works on your Water Account.

Outstanding balances

In accordance with the Local Government Act 1993, daily interest charges of 6% per annum will continue to be applied on any outstanding balance until paid in full.

Flow restriction

Flow restriction may occur if an account remains unpaid and all attempts to engage with an owner have been exhausted. Interest will continue to accrue daily on all overdue balances.

Flow restriction involves significantly reducing the water supply to the property allowing only a very small amount of water for health and hygiene purposes.

Our normal process for managing an account is:

Water Account issued with 28-day payment terms
Reminder Notice issued
Overdue Notice issued
Impending Water Flow Restriction Advice provided
Flow Restrictor Installed or Legal Action commenced or both

Avoiding Restriction

Shoalhaven Water will not instigate a water flow restriction to customer properties if:

A formal Water Account Payment Plan is accepted, signed and the payments on the due date are made,
An accepted and active Centrepay arrangement (through Centrelink) is maintained,
An outstanding water account complaint is with Shoalhaven Water or a complaint that is being investigated by the Energy and Water Ombudsman of NSW (EWON).

Restoring the water supply

If a property has been restricted, Shoalhaven Water will restore the water supply when:

The outstanding water charges are paid in full including the removal fee, or
The customer has agreed and signed an approved formal arrangement, payment extension or other form of assistance which has been approved, or
The customer has paid an agreed lump sum arrears of the outstanding balance and made an informal undertaking to pay the balance by instalment in a reasonable timeframe, or
Contact has revealed that the property is subject to a signed NSW Government Fair Trading “Standard form – Residential tenancy agreement” or similar eg Commercial Property Lease Agreement.