Water charges in Scotland among the lowest in the UK

The average Scottish Water household charge in 2016/17 is £351, £22 above the lowest - Severn Trent Water at £329 - while the highest is South West Water at £488.

Douglas Millican, chief Executive, said: “In the next year, Scottish Water will continue to provide our customers with one of the UK’s best value water and waste water services.

“Our charges have fallen in real terms in the last six years and will have dropped further by the end of our current regulatory period in 2021.

“Charges allow us to maintain investment – ensuring we continue to provide fresh, clearer drinking water for our customers, while protecting and enhancing the environment and supporting the Scottish economy. At the same time, we are taking steps to build an increasingly reliable and resilient service.

“The quality of drinking water received by our customers has never been higher, while we’ve achieved record environmental performance and customer satisfaction,” Mr Millican said.

“Customers are at the heart of our business and they expect us to build on the significant improvements we’ve made to water services while providing value for money, stability and certainty in charge levels.”

Scottish Water is delivering a six-year, £3.5 billion investment programme to sustain services – the equivalent of around £1,370 for every connected property.

This will help deliver further improvements to drinking water quality, protect the environment and support jobs in the construction sector.