Water charges in your area

We know that any increase in costs can be difficult, especially right now, and we haven’t taken the decision lightly.

Our regulator Ofwat decides the level of investment we can make in our network, and the total amount we can charge our customers over a five year period, so prices are fair for customers.

We're investing £2.1 billion over the next five years to improve how we deliver drinking water and to make sure you can rely on a safe, secure water supply today and for years to come. No dividends have been paid to our ultimate shareholders since 2019 and there are no plans to pay any in the next financial year.

You can find out more about the price review process here(opens in a new tab).

From 1 April, the average yearly household bill for drinking water will be £324.

This works out at around 89p a day for all the water you use at home - for drinking, cooking, cleaning, gardening and everything else you need it for. This is a seven per cent increase, or 6p a day, on last year’s average bill.

This includes all customers, and covers a range of tariffs - metered, unmetered and rateable value.

The increase you see on your bill may be different from the average bill and it also includes waste water charges. The waste water companies have their own price changes.

The waste water companies have their own price changes.

Generally it costs more to remove and treat the dirty water than it does to supply fresh water, so waste water charges tend to be higher. We bill our customers for waste water services on behalf of Southern Water, Thames Water, Severn Trent Connect and Last Mile Water. We do this to make things simpler for our shared customers.

Not sure who your waste water supplier is? You can find their logo on your bill, or check using the Water UK website, here(opens in a new tab).

Individual customers' bills will vary and could be more or less expensive than the advertised average.

The table below shows the change in the average bill from 2026/27, for measured and unmeasured customers:

Metered bills:

If your property has a water meter, we'll bill you every six months based on how much water you've used. This is measured in cubic metres (m3) by your meter. Your bill will also include a standing charge.

Unmetered bills:

If your property doesn't have a meter, you'll receive one bill a year. This covers the period from 1 April to 31 March the following year.

These charges cover the cost of taking water from the environment, treating it, and supplying top-quality drinking water to your taps.

Talking about money can be tough. If you're struggling to pay your bill, we have a range of schemes to help.

Social tariff

From 1 April 2026, we're changing our Social Tariff structure to help even more customers who need support paying their bills.

What's changing?

We already apply a tiered discount based on your household income (not including any disability or housing payments you receive). We’re increasing the amount your household income can be, to be eligible for a discount.

• If your total household income is between £17,000 and £22,020, you'll receive a 30 per cent discount on your water bill.
• If your household income is less than £17,000, you'll receive a 50 per cent discount.

As we also bill you for waste water, the tariff will include a discount on that part of your bill too.

You can find out more about our Social Tariff and other schemes here.

Other ways we can help

We've also expanded our data sharing scheme with local councils. This helps us automatically identify and sign up eligible customers who might benefit from extra financial help.

Our Trusted Partners Scheme works with charities and voluntary groups to automatically transfer customers onto the tariff and Priority Services Register without needing to apply.

If you haven't heard from us about this and need some extra help, please get in touch. We're here to help.