Water bills 'double' in ten years Water companies base their price increases on the RPI rate of inflation, but the Ofwat figures show that water bills have risen far faster than inflation. Customers of Anglian Water would have paid £181 for their water in today's prices in 2001, but pay an average of £230 now. Customers of South West water would have paid an average of £171 at today's prices for their water, but pay £323 today. "When we set limits on prices, we listened to customers," said Ofwat chief executive Regina Finn. They told us they wanted bills kept down, while maintaining safe, reliable water supplies. We challenged companies hard to deliver this. Our decision meant that, before inflation, average bills would remain broadly stable between 2010 -15. A spokesman for South West Water said that customers in the South West face higher prices "partly due to the massive investment that was required after privatisation in 1989." In addition, a relatively small number of people live in the South West and they are spread across a very wide area. The result is higher than average infrastructure costs and a lower than average number of customers to share the costs between, " the spokesman added The most recent price rise for all UK households will come into effect next month. Uswitch.com, the price comparison website, said households are facing a "nightmare" with their utilities. It said that although energy prices had started to fall after steep increases last year, rising water bills meant that consumers were still suffering. The UK's 22 water companies are allowed to increase their prices every April 1 by Ofwat. This year's rise is so steep because companies base their increases on the previous November's retail price index inflation figure. This figure was running at 5.2 per cent last year. Ofwat also allows each utility company to further increase its prices by an additional prearranged amount.