Jersey Water has today published its 2018 charges for water. From April, prices for water and standing charges will increase by 2.75%. This is the equivalent of 3 pence per day for the average household and is below September RPI of 3.1%.
Helier Smith, Chief Executive at Jersey Water said:
“We have a policy of keeping price increases to a minimum, and whenever possible at or below inflation. We achieve this by effective control of our operational costs and driving efficiency wherever we can. Over the last ten years this policy has seen a real terms reduction in the price of water of approximately 9%, after inflation. This has been achieved whilst maintaining a high level of investment in the Island’s public water supply.”
“In 2018, we plan further investment initiatives totalling over £3,000,000, including the extension of the mains water network, water quality improvements, leakage reduction, investment in IT systems and the ongoing maintenance of our reservoirs, treatment works and network of 580km of water mains.”
“In particular, during 2018, we will be updating our Water Resources Management Plan which aims to forecast the Islands’ demand for water over the next 25 years and determine whether the Island has sufficient resource to meet the forecast demand. The first phase of the project will complete towards the end of 2018. The previous plan, completed in 2010, resulted in the extension of the desalination plant (doubling its capacity to 50% of the Island’s average daily demand for water) and the implementation of island-wide water metering. ”
“Since the introduction of island-wide metering, over 94% of our customers now pay for water by meter. More than half saw a reduction in their bills as a result of the switch and all are encouraged to reduce their bills further using Jersey Water’s free online water savings calculator. The calculator provides water and energy savings tips tailored to each customer’s specific circumstances and recommends water saving devices to help reduce water consumption in the home. These devices are available free of charge from the Jersey Water website (www.jerseywater.je).”