Scottish Water bills to rise by 8.7% from April

Water bills in Scotland will rise by 8.7% in April – an average of £42 a year.

The increase will take the average bill in Scotland to £532, which remains among the lowest of any water company in the UK.

The rise – which works out at an average of about £3.50 extra a month – is in line with limits set by the independent economic regulator, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS).

Average water bills in England and Wales rose by 26%, or £123 a year last April.

Scottish Water, which is publicly owned, said the money would enable it to maintain essential services for more than five million people and support investment to upgrade infrastructure, such as water pipes and treatment works.

Scotland’s water and waste water system is facing increasing pressure including more extreme weather and growing demand.

The company said recent challenges included Scotland’s driest start to the year in six decades and an increase in repairs as older infrastructure comes to the end of its operational life.

Alex Plant, Scottish Water’s chief executive, said he understands any rise is “unwelcome” but it is “critical” to maintain services.

Speaking on Radio Scotland Breakfast, he said: “The balance that we always try and get into our decisions on bills is are we making sure that we are dealing with those more extreme weather events, dealing with the growth in population we are seeing and the shift in population from west to east, as well as trying to cope with the fact a lot of our assets are ageing.”

“We need to make sure we are investing to protect these essential services but not putting up bills more than we need to.”

Scottish Water said Scotland had one of the most comprehensive support schemes in the UK, with more than half (53%) of households receiving help with water charges.

Most households pay water charges through their council tax bills, based on the council tax band of their home.

The company’s board said that during and after the pandemic it had deliberately kept bill increases below inflation to support households.

This had reduced Scottish Water’s investment programme by an estimated £400-£500m.

Since 2021, drinking water compliance in Scotland has improved to 99.93%.

There has been a 25% reduction in serious environmental pollution incidents and internal sewer flooding incidents have been cut by one-third.

Scottish Water said the overall economic value generated was £4.5bn a year.

In 2025, Scotland had its driest start to the year in six decades, with rainfall at just 59% of normal levels.

Daily demand spiked by 100 million litres, equivalent to supplying all of Tayside.

Emergency water supplies were transported to rural communities.

Repair costs rose by 8% as older pipes reached the end of their operational life.