Ofwat is calling on more water companies to trial innovative ways of charging customers, to make bills more affordable and help encourage customers to use water wisely.

Affinity Water, which supplies drinking water across South East England, plans to be the first to implement a charging trial under new Ofwat rules. Due to go live later this year, it will charge around 1,500 pre-selected households a cheaper rate for using a lower amount (or ‘block’) of water, and progressively higher prices for using larger volumes of water. The company expects at least two out of three homes in the trial to pay less for their water than they do currently.

The announcement comes as Ofwat confirms its good practice principles for trialling different models for how people pay for water. Currently, customers’ bills are set on a flat standard amount based on their type of property, or on flat rate based on how much water they use.

Under Ofwat’s updated charging rules, the trials might include:

• seasonal charging to help lower water bills in the winter;
• reducing bills for homes with water butts and permeable driveways which can help to reduce risk of flooding and pollution to rivers and bathing water; and
• charges to support messaging about reducing water use at times when water is less available.

Successful trials could be rolled out to all households in a given area.

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