26 March 2008
• Midland water bills for 2008/09 average 80p per day
• Severn Trent’s bills remain amongst the lowest in England
• Fourth year of pricing and investment plan
• £2.5 million invested each day to improve service
Water bills in the Midlands are set to rise by around four pence per day from April, to make the average charge for water and sewerage services 80 pence a day.
Balancing out variations between metered and un-metered customers, the average Severn Trent Water bill will be £292 for 2008/9, an increase of 5.2 per cent on last year. This remains one of the lowest charges in England and Wales whilst Severn Trent continues to have one of the highest investment programmes in the industry which will see £2.5 million spent each working day to improve its pipes, water works and sewage treatment processes.
Martin Kane, Severn Trent’s director of customer services, explained: "We are entering the fourth year of a five year pricing plan in which our charges are agreed by the water industry regulator, Ofwat.
"Our prices are set to go up by 5.2 per cent – or up about 4 pence per day – to bring our average bill to £292 for 2008/09. This still offers good value for money and allows us to continue with our extensive investment programme that will enhance the quality and reliability of our service across the Midlands."
Martin clarified that the floods which hit a widespread area of the Midlands last summer, were not the reason for the increase: "Last summer’s floods highlighted areas of our business that need reinforcing, modifying and further investment. But I must stress that the formula for setting our charges was agreed with Ofwat back in 2004 and covers the years from 2005 – 2010. Therefore the increase is not related to any costs incurred coping with the floods."
Price rises enable Severn Trent Water to finance an investment programme worth around £2.7 billion between 2005 and 2010, including:
• More than £400 million on maintaining water supplies
• £150 million improving drinking water quality
• Around £850 million maintaining and improving river quality
• More than £350 million improving sewers and dealing with sewer flooding.
Severn Trent Water will be investing over £30 million across the Birmingham and West Midlands region. Amongst these investments is a £1 million scheme to improve sewer capacity in Wolverhampton and a multi-million pound investment at Frankley Water Treatment Works, Birmingham. This investment will fund improvements which will enhance the current treatment processes at the works and protect the security of a water supply to the Birmingham area, which currently provides water to over 1.3 million customers.
