Household water bills across England and Wales will rise 5.4% beginning in April, costing each household about £33 more per year.
It comes as companies prepare to invest £20 billion in the next two years to secure water supplies and end sewage entering rivers and seas.
The public outcry about sewage entering waterways prompted firms to increase bills to pay for upgrades after decades of underinvestment.
Ofwat has allowed water firms to put up bills by 36% between 2025 and 2030, with most of that – 20% or an average £86 – was put on last year’s increase.
Each water company has varied the amount their bills have increased, with Severn Trent customers seeing a whopping 10% increase, and Affinity Water warning of a 13% increase.
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Our interactive checker will show you just how much your bills are set to increase beginning in April.
Sutton and East Surrey are imposing an 11% increase, Bristol Water a 12% rise and South East Water is raising bills by an average 7% to £324 a year after its customers suffered days of supply disruption this month, blamed on Storm Goretti, causing burst pipes and power cuts.
Water UK said the cash raised from water bills could only be used to fund infrastructure that had been independently determined to be ‘new, necessary and value for money’.
A money-back guarantee meant that customer bills would automatically be refunded by the regulator if improvements were not delivered, it said.
More than two million households currently receive help with their bills through social tariffs, the WaterSure scheme and other affordability measures, and this will expand by an expected extra 300,000 households over the coming year.
Water UK chief executive David Henderson said: ‘We understand increasing bills are never welcome, but the money is needed to fund vital upgrades to secure our water supplies, support economic growth and end sewage entering our rivers and seas.’
Henderson said the urgent investment in water and sewage will make bill rises difficult for many, but they plan to help 2,500,000 households see 40% discounts on their water bill.
CCW said it had seen a 51% increase in complaints about water companies in 2025, mainly driven by concerns around affordability and upset over the scale of last April’s increase.
CCW chief executive Mike Keil said: ‘People support investment in improving services, but they are impatient for change and need to see compelling evidence their money is being well spent.’
Rob Abrams, campaign manager at Surfers Against Sewage, said: ‘Nearly a third of our water bills are swallowed up servicing the water company debt pile and shelling out dividends whilst we get sick from sewage.
‘So why should we believe this time will be any different? Water isn’t a commodity. It’s a necessity. Yet it’s being milked for profit while sewage is pumped into our waters.’
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