The lack of outrage over water companies raising customer bills again, reflects the stranglehold they have on the nation.
The annual bill for Yorkshire Water customers is set to rise this April by over 5% for the average household bill. This would mark a rise on the average property from £602 to £636 per year.
The news passed last week with barely a whimper of protest from Yorkshire Water customers, as Yorkshire Water outlined their investment programme of replacing mains, reducing leaks and water treatment upgrades.
Their press release stated, ‘Average household water bills in Yorkshire are set to increase by 5.6% in April – around £2.80 per month – to help fund an £8.3bn investment programme, which will improve customer service and environmental outcomes across the region.’
They outlined that the regulator Ofwat had agreed to these increases for all water companies to raise bills yet again, in order to pay for upgrades after years of under investment from the water companies themselves- almost blaming Ofwat for the rises.
‘The increase, which was agreed by Ofwat in December 2024, sits just above inflation and will enable Yorkshire Water to continue delivering a wide range of infrastructure projects, totalling £1.1bn between April 2026 and April 2027, including:
–Progressing a £38m plan for reducing leakage across the region
-Replacing 353km of mains throughout Yorkshire, to reduce bursts and instances of water supply disruptions
-Exchanging a further 350,000 smart meters to help customers save water and reduce their bills.’
Matt Pinder, customer director at Yorkshire Water, said: “This is our largest ever investment package – designed to drive significant progress in areas we know are important to our customers. We’ve already delivered a huge number of infrastructure projects – over 200 in 2025 – and it’s important that we keep that momentum going over the next year, and beyond.
“The money we collect from customer bills, alongside shareholder investment and borrowing, will be spent on a wide variety of improvements across the region – from improvements to storm overflows to mains replacements and bringing in new water resources – alongside delivering a better service for our customers.”
He added: “Of course, we know that bill rises will be difficult for some of our customers. Over the five years, we’ll be providing £375m in financial support to 345,000 customers through a range of different schemes – I would encourage anyone who is struggling financially to contact us to discuss the options available to them.”
Why are customers paying to clean up the water industry?
Campaigners however decried the water industry’s claims that, ‘By 2030 £104 billion will be invested in the UK’s water networks.’ Fervent water campaigner, Feargal Sharkey challenged where the ‘investment’ was coming from, saying, ‘not a single bloody penny of any of it is coming from water company shareholders- it’s all coming directly out of bill payers pockets.’ He also highlighted the dangers of companies using the tactic of ‘big numbers’ to make their promises sound more convincing, while ignoring financial truths, when he pointed out that ‘£22 BILLION of that instantly evaporates in interest payments, commissions and other financial changes.’
Sharkey also listed the deficiencies within the water industry to make the point that they are operating with very little restrictions and that financial penalties do not act as a disincentive to clean up their act.
‘Water companies are currently £82.7 billion in debt, have paid themselves £85 billion in dividends, leak over a trillion of litres of water per year, dump sewage for almost 4 million hours per year, have been convicted of over 1,200 criminal acts since 1989 and an average of 35% of your bill goes on nothing but paying more interest and yet more dividends.
And not a single company has ever lost their operating licence.’
‘Bonuses’ continue
‘The Guardian’ recently reported that the water industry appeared to be circumventing the ban on bonus payments to bosses of the water companies by ‘labelling payments differently or paying bosses through linked companies.’
Frankly, at this stage, the water companies bosses and parent companies, must be laughing at the ineptitude of regulators and the government to hold them to account. The perception is that they are aware of the rising pressure for re-nationalisation of water and that they continue with business as usual, for as long as they are able to do so.
Come April, the public will all dutifully pay the rise in payments to the water industry, without real expectation of any improvements to the system. Sewage will still run rampant in our waterways, unchecked and unpunished. It is worth remembering that this rise in annual payments will happen at approximately the same time as the annual data on sewage pollution will be published. In Yorkshire in 2024, there were 450,398 sewage spills, with these spills lasting for 3.6 millions hours.
What is the number of sewage spills needed for the government to rein in this runaway industry?
Climate Thoughts with Brian 