Ofwat unveils latest water rate rises

Water saving could become more important in 2012, as UK households are facing increases to their bills.

According to regulator Ofwat, the cost of water and sewerage services will rise by an average of 0.5 per cent above the country's inflation rate this year.

This could prompt people to look at ways of cutting their overheads, particularly those with a water meter in place as the average bill is set to hit £376 per household, 5.7 per cent higher year-on-year for 2012-13.

According to Ofwat, households in England and Wales will see the new pricing structure come into force between April 1st 2012 and March 31st 2013.

The watchdog's chief executive Regina Finn said: "We understand that any bill rise is unwelcome, particularly in tough economic times. Inflation feeds through into water bills and this is driving these rises."

"We will make sure customers get value for money," she added, noting that Britain's water providers are due to invest £22 billion in systems by 2015 to enhance the reliability and cleanliness of supplies.

Energy efficiency measures could offer one way of reducing expenditure, with home monitoring systems providing a means of seeing where consumption levels are highest in order to implement strategies to bring them down.

However, the announcement by Ofwat comes as figures from National Debtline revealed that calls regarding water debts rose by 32 per cent in 2011 compared with the previous year, with almost ten per cent of people ringing the service now having problems paying these bills.

Joanna Elson, Money Advice Trust chief executive - the body that operates National Debtline - stated: "The sobering fact is that paying water bills is becoming increasingly difficult for many households across the country and it doesn't seem to be a problem that will go away any time soon."