Turning the tide on rising water costs

EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON THE WAYS YOU CAN SAVE MONEY ON THOSE EVER-INCREASING BILLS. BY PRUDENCE WADE

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IT’S an unfortunate fact of life, but for many of us, water bills are rising.

The regulator Ofwat confirmed at the end of January that household bills across England and Wales would increase by an average of 5.4% from April.

This is the equivalent of £33 a year, and comes hot on the heels of last year’s 20% rise, or an average of £86 per household.

“Unfortunately, unlike mobile phone providers or broadband or energy providers, there’s nothing you can do to shop around for a cheaper supplier,” says Greg Marsh, household finance expert and CEO of money-saving tool Nous.co.

“Your water supplier is your water supplier, and it’s a postcode lottery.”

While you might be wise to changing your energy provider every few years to get a better deal, the same logic doesn’t quite work for water. So is there anything you can do to help keep bills down?

If you haven't already installed a water meter, Greg strongly urges you to consider getting one by contacting your supplier.

“Why would you want to do that? You might think, well, I don't want them to know exactly how much I'm using,” he says.

“But if your house has more bedrooms than people, get a smart meter - you'll probably save money.”

According to the government's Environment Agency, only 12% of homes in England have smart water meters installed.