This year's 4.1% increase is justified by the financial burdens faced by water providers, according to the organisation.
The increased financial burden being faced by water bill payers in the UK is necessary, an industry group claimed today.
According to Water UK, the across-the-board price rises planned by providers are justified by the large infrastructural and maintenance requirements carried out by the firms. These include sewage system, anti-flooding and anti-pollution works.
This year, under plans approved by industry regulator Ofwat in 2004, average bill increases of 1.1 percent for the year have just come into effect. This total is added to assumed annual inflation of three percent, meaning that customers are facing an overall increase of 4.1 percent.
The comments also follow the submission of the 2010-15 pricing plans from the providers to Ofwat earlier this month. These submissions were made by each regional water firm separately and have yet to be confirmed by the watchdog.
Barrie Clarke, director of communication at Water UK, commented: "The water industry carries out many functions on behalf of society that society generally is unaware of. For instance, the water that runs off roads and contains polluting substances runs into sewers and is cleaned by the industry before being returned to the environment; this is a costly process which is paid for by water customers not road users or highway authorities."
He added: "For most households, water bills are low relative to other regular outgoings."
