Jersey Water has today published its 2020 charges for water. From April 2020, prices for water and standing charges will increase by 2.7%. This is the equivalent of approximately 3 pence per day for an average household and in line with the September 2019 RPI of 2.7%.

The Company is committed to keeping any price increase to a minimum and has applied a policy of maintaining price increases at or below the cost of living in all but 2 of the previous 20 years. Over the past ten years, the price of water in Jersey has decreased by 4.7% (allowing for the effects of inflation) representing a reduction on average household bills of £14 per year.
Helier Smith, Chief Executive of Jersey Water, said:
“We work very hard to limit the impact of continuous and significant upward inflationary cost pressures on customer bills and have done this successfully over the past two decades. All the while, ensuring that we continue to make substantial investment in improving water quality, developing the Island’s water supply infrastructure and delivering high quality water with a high standard of service to the customers and the community we serve.”

“During 2019, the quality of the water supplied was very high, with an overall compliance rate of 99.97%. Our 2019 customer survey confirmed that Jersey Water continues to perform significantly better than the utilities sector in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index published by the Institute for Customer Service and we were among the best performing in customer perception of value for money for the service we provide.”
“A significant focus of Jersey Water’s efforts during 2020 will be on finalising our water resources management plan. During the year we will be publishing the plans we are developing to address potential future water shortages. These will almost certainly include measures designed to reduce demand by improving water efficiency in the home and reducing the amount of water that is wasted.”

“Customers don’t need to wait for our water resources plan to begin the journey to becoming more water efficient, if they haven’t already done so. Everyone can save money on their bills and reduce their water consumption by following the tailored, customer specific water savings advice available using the water savings engine on Jersey Water’s website. Jersey Water also provide free water saving devices to help reduce consumption and bills, these can be ordered directly through the savings engine on our website (www.jerseywater.je/save-water).”

“Looking to the future, it is clear that the effects of climate change and population growth will have a dramatic effect on water resources, both in Jersey and across the world. There has never been a more compelling time for us all to become more aware of water we consume, the ways in which we can minimise wasted water and reduce our consumption. Doing so will help keep bills down for customers and help ensure the long-term sustainability of the water supply upon which we all rely.”

Jersey Water has today published its 2018 charges for water. From April, prices for water and standing charges will increase by 2.75%. This is the equivalent of 3 pence per day for the average household and is below September RPI of 3.1%.

Helier Smith, Chief Executive at Jersey Water said:

“We have a policy of keeping price increases to a minimum, and whenever possible at or below inflation. We achieve this by effective control of our operational costs and driving efficiency wherever we can. Over the last ten years this policy has seen a real terms reduction in the price of water of approximately 9%, after inflation. This has been achieved whilst maintaining a high level of investment in the Island’s public water supply.”

“In 2018, we plan further investment initiatives totalling over £3,000,000, including the extension of the mains water network, water quality improvements, leakage reduction, investment in IT systems and the ongoing maintenance of our reservoirs, treatment works and network of 580km of water mains.”

“In particular, during 2018, we will be updating our Water Resources Management Plan which aims to forecast the Islands’ demand for water over the next 25 years and determine whether the Island has sufficient resource to meet the forecast demand. The first phase of the project will complete towards the end of 2018. The previous plan, completed in 2010, resulted in the extension of the desalination plant (doubling its capacity to 50% of the Island’s average daily demand for water) and the implementation of island-wide water metering. ”

“Since the introduction of island-wide metering, over 94% of our customers now pay for water by meter. More than half saw a reduction in their bills as a result of the switch and all are encouraged to reduce their bills further using Jersey Water’s free online water savings calculator. The calculator provides water and energy savings tips tailored to each customer’s specific circumstances and recommends water saving devices to help reduce water consumption in the home. These devices are available free of charge from the Jersey Water website (www.jerseywater.je).”