<\/p>\n
Water bills in England and Wales will rise by an average of \u00a333 per household in April, in the latest above-inflation increase intended to fix leaking pipes and sewage treatment works.<\/p>\n
The increase will push the average annual water bill to \u00a3639 in the year from 1 April, up 5.4% on the previous year, according to figures published on Thursday by Water UK<\/a>, a lobby group for the industry.<\/p>\n The highest average bill will be as much as \u00a3759 for Southern Water customers in southern England.<\/p>\n Water companies have come under sustained criticism in recent years amid outrage over sewage spilling into Britain\u2019s rivers and seas.<\/p>\n The regulator, Ofwat, granted companies permission to charge customers a record \u00a3104bn between 2025 and 2030<\/a> in order to pay for maintenance and upgrades.<\/p>\n Annual water bills surged by \u00a3123 last year<\/a> at the start of the five-year period. The 5.4% increase will be two percentage points above December\u2019s rate of inflation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Customers of United Utilities in north-west England will see the biggest increase in their average annual bills \u2013 \u00a357. The smallest increase to the average bill of the combined water and sewerage companies will be the \u00a33 added by Thames Water, the crisis-hit supplier to London and the Thames Valley, which added most of its five-year increase last year<\/a>. Individual household bills are determined by usage and the size of homes.<\/p>\n