Here’s how much the cost of water bills in Sussex are changing by

The county is served by Southern Water, South East Water and Portsmouth Water.

Southern Water has announced its average combined water and wastewater treatment bill is set to fall by 1.3 per cent or £5 a year in 2022/23.

The utility company says a typical combined bill per household is now expected to be £401.54 compared with an average charge of £406.91 for 2021/22.

Meanwhile Portsmouth Water will be increasing its bills by an average of 6.1 per cent effective from the start of July.

Atypical annual household water bill will be £109 which it says will still be ‘considerably lower’ than any other water company.

South East Water did not announce how much its bills would be changing by, but simply said the average household would pay £221 a year for their tap water supply from April.

However figures from Discover Water suggest this is increasing from £214 for the current year, equating to a 3.3 per cent rise.

Southern Water

Southern Water says it has invested its largest amount on record this year with £610 million spent to improve its assets and network, drive down leakage and pollution, protect the environment and prepare for the challenges of climate change.

Support offered includes payment holidays, special tariffs, debt write-offs, bill reductions and grants for household items. The company also offers support and extra care help for those living with long-term illness, disability, the elderly and even new parents or parents with young children.

Katy Taylor, chief customer officer at Southern Water, said: “If you’re finding it hard to pay your bills due to the surging costs-of-living or for any other reason, our message is: ‘Please get in touch with us as we can help’.”

Southern Water currently provides over 126,000 customers with some form of financial assistance, an increase of 21,000 since the start of the pandemic. Last year it provided more than £12.5 million worth of support.

South East Water

South East Water has confirmed the average household will pay £221 a year or 60 pence a day for their tap water supply from April 1.

The company says it will be investing around £112 million from April 22 to March 23 to continue improving the service it gives to its customers.

Over the past two years, support has been increased to customers who may be struggling to pay their water bill.