Image description: Water droplet falling from a tap. Image credit, Pixabay.
A sector losing the confidence of its customers
Two reports published in the last week by the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) together paint a troubling picture of a sector haemorrhaging public trust. The watchdog’s annual Water Matters survey, which has tracked household customer views for fifteen years, recorded the lowest overall trust score in its history. Thirteen water companies saw their ratings fall during the year, with Northumbrian Water the most trusted and Thames Water the least. The findings arrive against a backdrop of significant bill increases, including unprecedented rises in April 2025, and sustained public anger over environmental performance.
Bills, fairness and affordability reaching crisis point
Customer sentiment on bills is deteriorating sharply. Water Magazine reports that customers’ overall trust score fell from from 6.28 to 6.07 out of ten across England and Wales.
Just 44% of customers felt what they were being charged was fair, a fourth successive annual fall to a new record low, while only 63% considered their bill affordable, down 11% on the previous year.
Complaints escalated to CCW rose 51% in 2025 to just over 16,000, driven largely by billing disputes and financial hardship. Despite water companies investing more than £100 billion over five years to improve services and the environment, fewer than half of customers felt their company was doing a good job of communicating its plans, itself a record low.
Environmental performance remains a source of deep dissatisfaction
Satisfaction with sewerage services fell to its lowest-ever level at 60%, with just a third of customers satisfied with companies’ efforts to protect the environment. Concerns centre particularly on the management of sewer flooding and the treatment of wastewater before it is returned to the environment, key issues that sit at the heart of ongoing public and political debate about the sector.
Customers want transparency on finances
CCW’s companion report, The Bottom Line, identifies a clear and growing demand among customers for straightforward explanations of how their money is spent. Many customers find current financial reporting inaccessible, overly technical, and oriented towards investors rather than bill payers. Perceptions of profits, dividends, executive pay and company debt are shaped largely by media coverage rather than anything water companies themselves communicate, which CCW says is creating a significant reputational vulnerability. The research found that customers respond well to plain English explanations, visual presentation of data, and simple “where your bill goes” summaries, particularly where these link bill income directly to tangible outcomes such as leakage reduction, sewerage upgrades and pollution prevention. Independent validation of such information was also seen as important to credibility.
The path to rebuilding trust
CCW Chief Executive Mike Keil was direct in his assessment, noting that some water companies have been “quick to blame regulation” for the sector’s failures while being “much slower to take responsibility” for things within their control, particularly customer communication. Both reports point towards the same conclusion: that restoring confidence will require water companies to demonstrate genuine accountability, not just investment, and to communicate in ways that resonate with bill payers rather than financial markets. CCW continues to advocate for a single social tariff across England and Wales, arguing that the current patchwork of company-level support schemes, while reaching a record awareness level of 56%, fails to direct help consistently to where it is most needed.