Guernsey Press

True cost of wastewater to be reflected in bills

WASTE water charges and drinking water charges will change in 2019 but it should not affect the overall bills for the ‘vast majority’ of customers.

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Guernsey Water general manager Steve Langlois. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 22683732)

Guernsey Water confirmed plans today that will see waste water charges make up a greater proportion of the total billed amount than drinking water, in line with the cost to the company.

The imbalance was highlighted following the release of the 2017 annual report which showed that it costs Guernsey Water 63p per person per day to return wastewater back for use.

The current charges allocate 28p for the service.

For 135 customers with their own water supply, usually in the form of a borehole, there will be a relative increase to their bill. Guernsey Water said it will look to help customers who find this a difficulty, on a case-by-case basis.

Depending on usage, the average quarterly bill of £109.04 for metered customers will remain almost the same from 2018-2019 at £108.96, although water charges currently billed at £2.01 per cubic metre will be halved to £0.99 and standing water charges of £28.70 will be reduced to £14.09.*

The waste water quarterly charges will increase from 70p per cubic metre to £1.83 and the quarterly standing charge for waste water will increase from £9.06 to £23.67.*

Steve Langlois, Guernsey Water general manager, said the changes were about transparency and were unconnected with the States’ waste strategy.

‘The problems associated with unflushable items such as wipes going down with the wastewater are long-standing ones. We might find it is more expensive for the individual who is using something like a food macerater for their waste now than it would be for us.

‘As a vital public service we believe in being as fair and transparent as we can to all our customers. Therefore, our water and wastewater charges should better reflect the cost of providing each service.

‘We are rebalancing our water and wastewater charges next year so that they relate more closely to how much it costs to provide our customers with these services. This will mean reducing water charges and increasing wastewater charges.

‘This will be fairer for all our customers because they will pay for the actual services they receive.’

For most of Guernsey Water’s customers the bill will look a little different but they will not see any difference in the total amount they will be paying.

‘We have written to each [of the 135 customers with their own water supply] explaining the changes we are introducing and have invited them to meet with us to answer any queries they might have.

‘To protect our environment and prevent problems involves a lot of resources and significant ongoing investment.

‘We have 4,810 cesspits to empty regularly, more than 150 kilometres of sewer, 66 wastewater pumping stations and our critical wastewater centre at Belle Greve.

‘This is vital infrastructure that we have to operate, maintain and improve round the clock, every day of the year.

‘It costs more to provide our wastewater service than it does to provide water that is safe and good to drink,’ he said.

The new water and wastewater charges are going to the States of Guernsey for approval in November and the new charges would apply from 1 January, 2019.

* These figures have been changed from the original article due to incorrectly supplied information.