Wessex Water Boss Calls For Higher Bill Increases

From April 1st this year, water bills are going to increase, with the national average for the next 12 months expected to be £603 – a rise of 26 per cent, or approximately £10 a month.

The aim of these bill hikes is to drive essential investment in the water sector, ensuring that new environmental requirements are met. Industry watchdog Ofwat has emphasised the point that these bills are a fair reflection of the investments that water suppliers will be making and that bills are not any higher than they need to be.

If water firms fail to hit their targets or don’t deliver the outputs promised, money must be returned to customers through lower bills.

However, it seems that some company bosses don’t believe the increases have gone far enough, such as Wessex Water CEO Ruth Jefferson, who says that the utility provider has a strong case for bigger hikes over the next few years.

Speaking to MPs, Ms Jefferson explained that major investment is now required in the water network and that the associated costs wouldn’t be covered by this level of increase, the BBC reports.

Bill hikes

Bills for Wessex Water are due to increase by 21 per cent over the next five years, with average household bills climbing by £67… unless, of course, Ms Jefferson’s appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is successful, in which case bills could increase even further than that.

However, Ms Jefferson did stress that improvement works would still be carried out to address pollution issues and underinvestment in ageing infrastructure, no matter what the CMA decision is.

Discussing the current bill levels, she said: “We need to make improvements at 123 sites and we now feel that we can’t make all of those investments. We have a long-term owner who will do everything necessary to make sure that we can deliver what we said we’re going to do over the next five-year period.”

Wessex Water’s 2025-2030 business plan proposes £3.65 billion of new investment to upgrade infrastructure, create local jobs, safeguard water supplies for future generations and protect the environment.

These investments include £1.13 billion to improve water quality through the removal of 1,550 tonnes of nutrients in rivers, lakes and streams, £445 million to reduce storm overflow operations and use of sewer monitors to predict issues along the network, as well as nature-based treatment solutions and real-time water quality monitoring for bathing sites.

The aim of this latest business plan is to drive down pollution, leakage rates and storm overflow operation, while simultaneously leaving more water in the environment so that all local needs can be catered for over the long term.

However, investment levels cannot be more than doubled without inevitable bill increases – although the firm has said that, despite this new development, bills will still be lower in real terms than they were 15 years ago.

To help customers manage the changes successfully, Wessex Water has increased the number of households receiving support from the Tailored Assistance Programme to 140,000, which includes lower rate social tariffs, flexible payment plans, payment breaks, metering and water efficiency services and debt support.

How can businesses reduce water bills?

Businesses keen to keep water bills down to a minimum can make significant savings by having a water audit of their premises carried out.

It’s highly possible that you’ve been overpaying because of incorrect charges, but an in-depth audit will find out if this is the case by comparing water usage (including volumes) with what you’re being charged for. It’s possible that you could be in line for significant refunds if you have been overcharged in the past.

Another option is to switch water supplier. If you’ve never considered changing business water firms, you might be paying more than you have to on default rates. Significant savings can be made simply by switching, so this is certainly worth looking into if you’re concerned about price hikes at the moment.

And yet another way to save is through water recycling and reuse. You can implement filtration and treatment systems that allow you to reuse water, so you can reduce your reliance on mains water supplies, helping you to save even more money.

Similarly, rainwater can be collected and reused for cleaning, toilet flushing and so on, driving further savings your way.

The best water-saving solutions will depend on the industry you’re in and the nature of your business. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with the SwitchWaterSupplier.com team today.