Severn Trent Water customers’ bills will rise by around four pence per day from April, making the average charge for water and sewerage services 84p a day.
Balancing out variations between metered and un-metered customers, the average Severn Trent Water bill will be £305 for 2009/10; an increase of five per cent on last year.
The company says it still has one of the lowest water charges in England and Wales and one of the highest investment programmes in the industry, which will see £2.5 million spent each working day to improve its pipes, water treatment works and sewage treatment processes.
Martin Kane, director of customer services, said the company will be investing more than £600 million in the local economy over the next 12 months.
The price rise will enable Severn Trent Water to finance a £2.7 billion programme of works between 2005 and 2010, including more than £400 million on maintaining water supplies, £150 million on improving drinking water quality, around £850 million on maintaining and improving river quality and more than £350 million on improving sewers and dealing with sewer flooding.
Severn Trent Water is investing in a number of projects across Shropshire including £9 million on upgrading the sewerage network in Albrighton and Oswestry to prevent future sewer flooding.