| Down the Plughole: why is our water so expensive? |
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Page 8 of 8 South West Water – the defence In a statement issued in February 2007, at the time of South West Water’s latest rate increase, the company said that customers can expect ‘significantly lower price rises in future years, benefiting from increases that are lower than the expected national average until at least 2010’. The company announced a £190 million spend on essential improvements to services, and a £2 billion investment since privatisation in 1989. However, customers in the South West face above average bills, particularly for sewerage, due to £2 billion of essential investment since privatisation in 1989 and a relatively small population to share the costs between. A Government scheme, WaterCare, was launched to run for three years, offering home visits and advice to customers on how to cut their water bill by installing a water meter and water-saving devices. South West Water claims to have invested the equivalent of 99 per cent of its profit back into improving the region's environment and drinking water within the first half of 2006, “making it one of the UK's leading water companies in capital investment”. It says: “It is essential for the company to make a profit because it encourages shareholders to invest and keeps borrowing costs down, meaning that customers do not face even higher bills.” South West Water chief executive Chris Loughlin said: "We are acutely aware that this year's increases may cause difficulty for some customers. The essential infrastructure investments made in the last 15 years to improve service, environmental performance and to meet stringent industry obligations mean that our customers face higher than average bills. "We have made a range of measures available to help, including the free installation of water meters and WaterCare – a new scheme designed to help those in need to manage and reduce their bills. “We sympathise with any customer struggling to pay all their household bills and we will continue to support any Government initiatives which explore ways of helping them." |
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