Customer water bills are proposed to increase on average by £19 a year over the next five years
The rise is a third less than the increase that was requested by companies, the regulator Ofwat has announced
The regulator is proposing an £88bn spending package to reduce pollution, improve customer service, enhance water quality, and deliver greater resilience to climate change.
Meanwhile the new Environment Secretary Steve Reed has vowed to “clean up” the water industry in a drive to cut sewage pollution and improve the nation’s waterways.
He has announced that customers will gain new powers to hold water companies to account and more than double the compensation paid when key standards are not met.
“This unacceptable destruction of our waterways should never have been allowed, but change has now begun so it can never happen again”
