Water bottlers say they only use a small percentage of water compared to other industries so people shouldn't be complaining about them.

A New Zealand Herald investigation has found ratepayers pay 500 times more than water bottling companies for the water they use.

People in Auckland pay $1.40 a cubic metre for water piped to their homes and the rest of the country on average pays $1.60 a cubic metre.

But water bottlers are being charged on average, one third of a cent ($0.003) for the same.

New Zealand Beverage Council spokesman Bruce Sherman told Rachel Smalley water bottling consumes less than half a percent of all consumptive water.

He said it seems strange to be targeting an industry that uses so little.

"When you have other industries, irrigation for example, that use up to 70 percent of all consumptive water."

Sherman said he wants to know why beer and wine companies aren't being targeted.

"When you look at the number of litres of both of those products sold offshore and when you look at the content of those products, the majority of it's water, but we're not having that conversation around charges with those companies."

However, Sherman said his organisation doesn't support bulk extraction of water for sale overseas because it doesn't add any value or provide jobs.

The New Zealand Herald requested consent details from each regional council after nationwide protests in March.

Labour and the Greens say the new information shows commercial users should be charged.

LISTEN ABOVE AS NEW ZEALAND BEVERAGE COUNCIL SPOKESMAN BRUCE SHERMAN SPEAKS TO RACHEL SMALLEY