Fury at 6% rise in your water bill
SOUTH Yorkshire folk have hit out at the increasing cost of living after Yorkshire Water announced it would be putting up bills by over six per cent in 2012-13.
The increase is above inflation and above the national average for water rate rises.
Yorkshire Water customers can expect their bills to go up by 6.1 per cent, while those who get their supplies from Severn Trent will see a five per cent increase.
Average bills for Yorkshire Water will be £361 for the year, up by £21, while the Severn Trent average will be £325, up £16.
Both charges remain below the national average bill of £376 - although the national average increase is 5.7 per cent.
Laura Perkin, aged 24, from Kelham Island said: “I’m not happy - it’s not like you can live without water and it’s not possible to switch to another provider.”
The announcement was made by water companies’ watchdog Ofwat, which said it had challenged the increases the firms wanted to introduce.
It says the final rises by 2015 will be ten per cent below what the companies originally asked for - and will by then be broadly in line with inflation.
Yorkshire Water said the increase would fund a £376 million programme of investments over the next year - a third of a £3.5 billion programme which runs until 2015.
Local projects include £12 million to improve the Rivelin Water Treatment Works, £13 million to upgrade the city’s water mains and £70 million of work at Blackburn Meadows.
Richard Flint, Yorkshire Water’s chief executive, said: “In this challenging economic climate where a lot of people are feeling the pinch, I think it’s more important than ever that essential service providers explain exactly why price increases are necessary and just what they will finance.
“Whilst the majority of this rise is down to inflation, the remainder of the increase will be used to fund our ongoing investment in Yorkshire.”
Simon Mullan, customer relations director for Severn Trent Water, said: “We have worked hard to keep prices down for our customers and are proud that our water and sewerage bills are the lowest in England and Wales.
“This year we will invest around £266 million across the region to upgrade our infrastructure and deliver the service improvements our customers have told us are important to them.”
The bill changes for this year will come into effect from April and apply until the end of March next year.
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Comments
There are 9 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Woodseats Sammy
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 04:42 PMWater falls free from the sky. Then gets turned into profit (rather than wine).
Wessex spanner monkey
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 04:10 PMI had a water meter fitted around 7 years ago. Before then my water rates were about £26 per month (£312 per year). 7 years later (on a meter) I now pay £9 per month (£108 per year). Unless you have loads of kids or water the garden a lot, you're a fool not to have a meter fitted.
honeybun
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 03:35 PMAll these 'privatised ' water company's NEW that all the infra structure needed to be up graded.... yet they rushed in to buy any way ( in the certain knowledge ) that cash was to be made! We are all in the grip of a 'loselose ' situation , as we have NO CHOICE, with no other company to move to. It may be legal to put up the cost as they are doing, but not moral. Even with water meters, they get you, all ways they can.
seenitall
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 01:45 PMGood old Mrs T...Thanks to you we now get stitched up to even have a drink of what was once known as 'Corporation Wine' Privatisation...bah!
AntOwl
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 01:06 PMHaving worked in the water industry for a few years, i saw what the money was spent on and its the things you dont see that are essential to keeping the network going, that it is spent on! The pipes are old, but if they were to replace them, people would moan about the road closures and the possible disruption! Yes times are hard, but people like YW need to increase the rates, to compensate for increasing costs; running costs, contractors costs etc...........Or put a spin on it, if they didnt increase the costs and people got ill or a river full of fish died, from bad quality water, people would be saying why wasnt money invested, YW would turn round and say we havent got enough! Stop moaning!
ISeeEverything
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 12:09 PMMy annual bill will now rise to something like £100. The whole point of being on a meter is that you only pay for the water you use, but about £75 of my yearly charge is fixed. It's outrageous.
unclepotter
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 11:34 AMGot to keep the shareholders happy...Investment,yeah right.Perhaps if the infrastructure hadn't been neglected for many many years it might be fit for purpose instead of being full of leaking old pipes.
scratch`
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 10:43 AMMick is right, as usual there's not enough info, and no sign of investigative journalism. Looks like the Star has just printed a press release. Questions - what's the efffect of having your supply metered, how much are we paying per litregallon, compared to previous years, and compared to other suppliers. How much has the chief exec etc been paid compared to other suppliers and previous years. And let's not forget who privatised water & started this whole rip-off process - Cameron's heroine, Maggie. Where's the benefits of competition when you can't choose supplier?
Mick71
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 09:39 AM£361 for the new water bill? the average in Yorkshire?? come on im in a basic lowend value property (under £40k) and for 201112 my water bill was £495. maybe the star should have reported this and used figures that were relevant to Sheffield residents. I'd also like to know where in yorkshire you can live to have a water bill of £361. and how can the national average water bill still be over £100 less than what mine was last year?
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