Water suppliers must cut bills by £158m due to poor performance

Water suppliers have been ordered to return £158 million to customers through lower bills after failing to meet key targets on pollution and leaks.

This is the fourth year in a row that Ofwat, the water regulator, has asked water companies to issue refunds for failing to meet targets and poor performance.

Here we look at how much each supplier pays, what this means on your bills and how to complain to your water company.

How much will each supplier reimburse customers?

Water companies across the UK have been ordered to make refunds.

Thames Water will receive the largest discount, totaling £56.8 million, followed by Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water.

Find out how much your water company is willing to pay in the table below.

If you do not know who your water supplier is, you can find out about it on the Water UK website.

• Learn more: my water supply is cut off, can I claim compensation?

What does this mean for my bills?

The discount will come into effect next year, with bills for 2025-2026 automatically updated.

Ofwat says it will not know the exact amount of customers’ bills until December, but there has been speculation that customers could only see their bills reduced by less than £10.

The refunds will be offset by plans to increase water bills by an average of £94 in England and Wales over the next five years.

These price increases, which are still being negotiated with water suppliers, will be used to finance investments in replacing pipes and reducing wastewater pollution.

Water companies say even higher bills are needed to solve some of these key problems. Ofwat says the £94 increase is a third less than increases suggested by providers.

• Learn more: find out about the increase in water bill prices in your area

How to complain about water problems

Maybe you have a low water pressure problem or maybe your billing or water meter isn’t working properly.

For all of these problems, you should start by contacting your water or wastewater supplier with as much detail as possible about the problem. We recommend contacting them by email so that you have a written record of your communication with them.

If you do not get a satisfactory result, you can follow your water and sewerage company’s official complaints procedure.

And if the problem is still not resolved, you can forward the complaint to the Water Consumer Council (CCWater), which is independent of your water and sanitation company. You can do this using a online complaint form, call or write a letter to file your complaint.

After that, unresolved issues must go through CCWater’s complaints procedure and then through the Water Repair Program (WATRS). However, you can only complain to WATRS if your water supplier is a member.

Finally, contacting Ofwat is the last resort if your problem is still not resolved. It contains details on how to make a complaint about his website.

• Learn more: I have problems with my water, what can I do?