Has anyone else seen a big rise in their water bill?

[SeriousFaffing]

For the period 2024-25 (up to Feb 25) our water bill was £645.

Just got our latest bill for the period up to Feb 2026 which was £870.

The latest bill stated our costs are to rise to £1050 over the next 12 months PLUS another 8% in April.

We use the equivalent water of three people!! AND we were on a hosepipe ban for the majority of 2025.

Just what is this?? I’m assuming this is normal for everyone. What an absolute racket - cheers Yorkshire Water!!

Image to add salt to the wound (“Yorkshire Water pumped sewage into waterways for equivalent of 32 years in 2025, figures show”).

Yes, ours was about £300 higher for the last quarter of 2025, but it turns out we had a water leak. Had to get the digger out, dig up the whole garden 😩, managed to rupture the neighbour’s water pipe (totally on Dh, not me 🙄), but we found it and fixed it.

Ours went up loads - unmetered. So I decided to stop procrastinating and get round to getting a meter fitted.

Turns out it we can’t have one fitted (no space inside without ripping out the kitchen and the outside stopcock is shared with neighbours) so we can be put on a reduced “assessed rate” based on our property size and occupants.

Not had the bill for this year yet but they backdated last year and we got a £500 refund off a £800andsomething bill, so expect this years to go from around £900 to £400.

Wish we had done it years ago but it seems scandalous that we’ve been “overcharged” so much for years and so many people are paying these higher charges.

I thought the non-metered bills WERE based on home size and occupants already 🤷‍♀️

Yes, noticed this too. I recently emailed our water provider as we’d received an update to our direct debit. The price per unit increase indicated that our annual bill would therefore increase by about 22%
but the payment they wanted to take would’ve meant an increase of at least 27% 😡
I emailed them to ask why the D/D was set soo high…..needless to say, I’ve had nil response…..just bloody money grabbing.
theres only two of us, on a water meter, and both work full time…..bill went from about £425 a year to £525+
we’re not heavy water users!

I did think have they put rateable value bills up to get everyone on a meter. And no doubt then they’ll put the unit price up and stiff everyone that way.

Ofwat’s statement on bill rises hardly makes for comfort reading.

https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/average-bills-2025-26-press-statement/

Looking forward to all these “improvements”.

We don’t have a choice of Water company in Wales, and it’s a not for profit company, but still our bill increases have been shockers.

Ours went up about 9%, not as bad as I expected.

@SparklyBrickViper I didn't think anyone had a choice of water company?

Our direct debit has just been changed from £43 to £57 a month.

So not huge but everything seems to be popping up by just a tenner or so and it soon adds up.

Our monthly bill....

.....monthly!....

Is £247.

We are on a meter and imo use a normal amount for 5ppl. Lots of washing as young active kids, otherwise, dishwasher once a day, most evenings one child will have a bath and H showers every day.

But the above is fairly normal I feel, I mean we are not irrigating a cannabis farm ffs.

We have a meter but somehow the first year we were here, they undercharged us so now clawing back. Big style 😵‍💫

Perfect timing!
I was going through my banking app earlier and shocked to see my direct debit has gone from £40 pcm to £60 pcm!
I checked my old bills and I used exactly the same amount as last year and I am very frugal
South West Water… pumping shit into the sea all around the Devon & Cornwall Coast 💩🌊

Yep water is an absolute rip off especially when there is no ‘choice ‘ on suppliers , you just have to pay whatever they say.

Ours has gone up from £55 to £68 per month. We can't be metered because we live in such an old house, but there's two of us in the house both showering once a day, dishwasher on every evening and 3-4 wash loads a week.

Sorry, what I meant was one company for the entire country. No market competition.

Mine was £45 in 2024 and £90 in 2026.

Outrageous really.

Thames Water are thieving robbing bastards. I’m on a meter, using less than the average household according to their online calculator, and my 6 month bill just went up by almost 25%. Their useful advice includes using the washing machine and dishwasher less. Well no shit. In the meantime leaks are a semi permanent feature of SW London and they’re probably still pumping sewage into bathing areas. They should be nationalised immediately and the CEOs put on minimum wage.

Ours has jumped from £22 a month to £39. That is a 77% increase.

For the same amount of water.

Ours has gone from £22 to £28 so.not too bad but only 2 of us on a meter. United utilities.

Mine went up over 40% despite my usage going down, and like you I use less than average. Also TW.
I genuinely thought the bill was wrong or I had a leak. Nope. Just robbing bastards.

I think it should be the same tariff for everyone

We moved from Affinity to Southern last year. Same usage, but bill increased from £45 to £60 p.m.

There’s only two of us on a meter. Most of our 77% increase was due to the drastic increases in standing charges.

Problem is some water companies will genuinely have higher running costs than others due to geography and population density. Thames can supply more properties per meter of pipe than somewhere like south west. Long runs of pipes in rural areas mean a higher likelihood of burst mains, etc as well as more chemicals needed for treatment, more pipe maintenance such as scouring.

more pumping stations and sewage treatment works as well.

i do think it should be nationalised. Water shouldn’t be a profit making business.