The British public is expected to face 'modest upward pressure' on water bills for up to a century to clean up Britain's waterways, an expert warned.
Water UK chair Ruth Kelly told BBC Breakfast that water company shareholders will make a £10 billion investment to clean up rivers. But the industry body warned that bills will rise to pay for the clean up.
She said the hike in customer bills will extend the 'full lifetime of the asset' at 50 to 100 years. She added that under the initiative, water companies will aim to reduce 400,000 spills per year to 280,000 spills.
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Ms Kelly said: “Over time, the way the system works is that there will be modest upward pressure on customer bills over the full lifetime of the asset, so over 50 years or perhaps even longer, maybe up to 100 years, customers do contribute.”
She added: “This is an investment programme that will go on for years. We literally want to do this as fast as is physically possible.”
She highlighted that the industry's plan goes beyond what is legally required. While regulator Ofwat said in 2021 that the industry had all the funding it needed to carry out its legal responsibilities, Ms Kelly said: "By and large, the water companies were carrying out their legal responsibilities.
“But what I’m here today is to say that what is legal isn’t necessarily the right answer and not what people expect. What we’re announcing today is an investment that goes way beyond what is legally required to make a real difference to the enjoyment people can have of rivers and beaches.
“And it is not just water companies who have to rise to this challenge. The regulator and the whole sector also has to rise to this challenge because I think people expect that of us.”
Musician and environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey said the plan was 'nothing to celebrate' and that customers are being left to 'pay them a second time'. The former Undertones frontman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What I’m actually hearing is no apology for the fact we’ve paid them for a service we haven’t got.
“They are now suggesting that we should pay them a second time for a service we haven’t had. We should have an apology for the suggestion they are going to put bills up by £10 billion for their incompetence and their greed.
“This is nothing to celebrate whatsoever. What they should be saying is, ‘we messed this up, we’re terribly sorry, we’re going to compensate you all, £10 billion, it is the least we could do for our customers, give you a refund’.
“That, we could all get behind. This is just another outbreak of moral panic due to the pressure and scrutiny they are coming under.”
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