Dunedin City Council worker Tom Hotton holds up two water meters in 2008. Water meters are compulsory in some local-authority areas, while other councils charge a fixed amount for water supply as part of rates. Some offer the option of installing meters. There is a fixed charge for installation, then householders are charged for actual water use. In cities where meters have been introduced, use levels have dropped. Tauranga installed water meters in the early 2000s. Daily water usage, which averaged 400–500 litres per person in the late 1990s, dropped to 325 litres in the early 2000s.