WATER RATS - MASSIVE RISE IN COST OF BILLS 
| | | THE level of complaints against Wales' two water companies is on the rise, new figures show. The Consumer Council for Water Wales Committee said it received 304 complaints from customers of Welsh Water and Dee Valley between October 1, 2005 and March 31, 2006 - a rise of 64% on the same period in 2004-05. Diane McCrea, chair of Consumer Council Water Wales Committee, said, "We are pressing our water companies in Wales to improve the working of their statutory complaints procedures. "We do this by reviewing complaints which have not been resolved to customers' satisfaction. "Our work on behalf of consumers is vital if companies are to retain the confidence of their customers and learn how service is being delivered at the sharp end.
| Welsh consumers are facing an average 18 per cent rise in the cost of water by 2009.
The water regulator, Ofwat, announced that it was approving a significant rise, which will take the average bill to £295 a year by 2009, but it would be requiring the water companies to make improvements.
Water companies had been arguing for a 29 per cent increase to allow them to carry out maintenance on their infrastructure and environmental projects.
The rises will affect different regions to a greater or lesser extent, with rises of 25 per cent hitting customers of Southern Water, South West Water and Wessex Water.
The increase will be spent on improving and maintaining sewers, pipes and treatment works, Ofwat said.
Additionally 3000 environmental schemes, aimed at improving water quality in rivers and coastal waters, will be enacted, along with 500 studies on future environmental protection plans.
The head of Ofwat, Phillip Fletcher, admitted that the increases would be unwelcome to consumers, but said: "These decisions strike the right balance. They will enable water companies to meet the needs of customers and the environment whilst continuing to deliver a safe and reliable service. The price limits are as high as they need to be but no higher.
"We have challenged the companies' costs to ensure customers continue to receive value for money from their water and sewerage services. This means that by 2009 customers will be paying on average only around seven per cent more, before inflation, than they were in 1999."
Consumers groups though are worried at the impact - particularly on elderly and vulnerable consumers. The chairman of WaterVoice, Maurice Terry, said: "This is bad news for the millions of water customers who will find these increases neither affordable nor acceptable.
"The Government must act immediately to ensure that customers on low and fixed incomes receive effective help to pay their water bills, through the mainstream tax credits and benefits system." Councillor Simon Foster, Chair of Cymru Rydd, The Welsh Republican Party, stated "A nationalised Welsh Water Industry, publically financed, contracted to Welsh operators, and adequately reimbursed for the Water it exports (to England), would not just reduce our water bills by some 60%. It would also offer vibrant and secure economic opportunities for our rural economies. " 
| | WELSH WATER Welsh Republicans are up in arms at the revelation that Dwr Cymru's bills have increased since privitisation, despite promises to the contrary from the English Parliament. Another broken promise for the people of Wales! Charges for household water and sewerage bills Cymru have gone up every year since privatisation in 1989. This year consumers are paying an additional 95%, or 44% after adjusting for inflation, than they would have done in 1989/90. Water companies say that these increases have been necessary to pay for improvements in an industry that suffered from a lack of investment when it was run by the state and to meet stringent pollution and water quality standards- though this doesn’t stop them paying huge salaries to the Top Water Rats, being prosecuted. The water and sewerage company whose bills have shot up the most is South West Water, where customers have faced a 72% rise after inflation. The company that has passed on the smallest price rise to its customers since privatisation is Yorkshire Water with a 30% increase in real terms. Bills from the other utilities do not follow the same trend. The average electricity bill has fallen by 15% between 1991 and 1997. Initial price increases after privatisation in 1990 were curbed by Offer, the electricity watchdog. Gas bills have also fallen by around 24% and phone bills by 16%, since both industries were privatised in the mid 80s. Companies such as Welsh Water and Severn Trent have both been prosecuted over 40 times since 1989/90. Welsh Water has one of the highest levels of prosecutions against them for pollution incidents since 1989. In the past these incidents have included the contamination of rivers and streams with sewage or chemicals. The company has reduced its water leakage level by 7% since 1983 but it still has to reduce it another 14% to reach the 1998/99 target set by Ofwat.
The prosecutions have been for incidents such as polluting lakes, rivers and streams with sewage or chemicals. The pollution can kill fish stocks and damage the environment. There are also fears that the currently legal abstraction of water from some environmentally important areas could be seriously damaging the countryside. And over four and a half billion litres of water was lost on a daily basis last year through leaking pipes and inefficient distribution. Nearly everyone in the UK could have a bath in the volume of water lost every day! Water meters are rarely used in Scotland and are not available in Northern Ireland. But around 10% of households currently have water meters in England and Wales. Welsh Water has one of the highest charges for meter installation and a relatively small number of households (3%) and industrial users (66%) using a water meter. Price increases since privatisation are below the national average of 44%. However the average water and sewerage bill in this region costs around £50 more than the national average of £232.
The parent company of Dwr Cymru is the Welsh utility company Hyder. Michael Brooker, Managing Director for Welsh Water is paid far too much given the state of Dwr Cymru. The Hyder Group Chief Executive, Graham Hawker, was paid £397,256 last year, the second highest salary at his level. Water is a natural resource which shold belong to all the people of Cymru used for the common good. Wales is wet - but as water in other parts of Britain becomes a more scarce commodity, are we too complacent about our water? English water companies are warning that in the not-too-distant future demand in their areas will outstrip available reserves, and some eyes are once again turning to Welsh valleys to meet the shortfall - could the dam-builders soon be back in business?
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