Guernsey Water Announces Up to 12% Increase in Household Water Bills for 2025

Guernsey Water has confirmed that household water bills are projected to increase by £5 to £8 per month starting next year. This annual adjustment, effective from January 1, will lead to an approximate 11% rise in bills for metered customers and about a 12% rise for unmetered customers. The utility stated that, as a result, the combined daily average for household water and wastewater charges will be £1.65 for metered customers and £2.44 for unmetered customers. Steve Langlois, Guernsey Water’s managing director, indicated that the utility has incurred significantly higher costs over the past two years due to inflationary pressures. Mr. Langlois highlighted that increases in engineering and construction expenses have been particularly severe. He explained that while efforts were made to keep bill increases minimal, a period of several years of financial losses necessitated measures to ensure the utility’s continued investment in essential services. He further noted that water infrastructure – comprising 14 reservoirs, over 500 km (310 miles) of underground water pipes, and two treated water reservoirs – “require continual investment to maintain and renew”. “For reasons that are out of our control, the cost of doing this has increased considerably,” he stated. The firm reported that it had achieved cost reductions in wastewater treatment but added that “despite these savings other cost increases mean we are unable to avoid putting charges up in 2025”. In accordance with States of Guernsey policy, the charge for emptying cesspits will increase from £9.09 per load to £10.47, which covers one-third of the service’s cost. The remaining two-thirds of this cost are funded by wastewater charges paid by all customers. Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.