Average water bill rising by 5.8%
Written: 26th February, 2008
Household water and sewerage bills are to increase by 5.8% on average across England and Wales.
Regulator Ofwat says the increase, which householders start paying from April, will make the average combined bill £330 a year, a rise of about £18.
But the combined bill rise is nearly 8% in some areas of the country, creating extra pressure on family budgets on top of recent energy price rises.
The increase is lower than last year's 7% average price increase.
Ofwat said it had worked hard to ease the pain for families.
"The work that Ofwat has done to keep prices down, including setting companies tough efficiency challenges, has kept customers' bills around £100 lower than they would otherwise have been," said Ofwat chief executive Regina Finn.
"Clearly any bill increases are going to be unwelcome but these price rises are essential to enable companies to continue to provide high-quality, secure water and sewerage services both now and for future generations."
Source BBC news