Water bills to rise 2%

Regulator Ofwat announces below-inflation rise of 2% to water bills for 2014/2015.

The average household water and sewerage bill in England and Wales is set to rise by 2%.

The below-inflation rise equates to an average of £8 and brings the average bill for 2014/2015 to £393.

Water regulator Ofwat, which announced the increase, defended the rise. It pointed out that since 2009/2010 the average bill had risen by less than the rate of inflation.

It also argued that customers have been shielded from the 10% rises suppliers wanted to charge.

Where the money goes

The money from our water bills go toward the day-to-day supply of water to our homes and the treatment of wastewater.

But it is also helping to pay for an investment programme into improving water infrastructure worth around £25 billion between 2010 and 2015.

These include:

• improving 140 water treatment works and 550 sewage treatment works to maintain and improve the environment and quality of drinking water;
• improving or replacing more than 10,000km of water mains;
• cleaning the mains pipe supplies serving more than one million people, helping to reduce discoloured water;
• helping to guard against water supplies being disrupted by extreme weather events such as flooding;
• addressing sewer flooding problems for more than 6,300 properties;
• maintaining or improving more than 3,000km of rivers to meet EU environmental standard, as well as improving water quality in more than 55 wetlands and bathing waters;
• setting up schemes with farmers and landowners to help prevent pollution of drinking water;
• ensuring water companies meet efficiency targets, reduce leakage and increase metering;
• investing in renewable energy sources to help reduce carbon emissions and keep water bills down.

Average water bills

Below are tables which show what average household bills will look like in 2014/2015 (including inflation) for companies offering water-only as well as water and sewage services.

Please note that there is some rounding to the figures.

Water-only companies

Water and sewerage companies

*South West Water customers benefit from a Government contribution which reduces their bills by £50 per year.

Cutting the cost of your water bill

Every five years the prices water and sewerage customers can be charged are set in agreement with Ofwat.

The 2% price change for 2014/2015 will come into effect on 1st April 2014 and represents the final price rise for the current five-year pricing period.

The next pricing period spans 2015-2020 and a new agreement will need to be reached.

Unfortunately unlike other utilities (such as gas and electricity and broadband) you can’t choose your water supplier, so that means you can’t shop around for a cheaper option.

But there are still ways to cut your water bills.

One way is to install a free water meter in your home. This device ensures you only pay for the water you use, rather than the average amount based on your property.  

Generally the device will cuts the cost of your bill if there are fewer people living in a property than there are rooms. The Consumer Council for Water has a calculator that can help you check if you could save with one.

If you have a water meter, there are plenty of gadgets to make use of which can cut your consumption down. Check with your supplier to see if they offer any for free like Anglian Water and Thames Water do.

Alternatively you can try to change your habits to reduce your water consumption. So instead of a bath have a shower, use a sponge rather than a hosepipe to wash your car and only use the washing machine or dishwasher when it’s full up.

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