Rest in Peace Anne and John Byrne
Search
23 Jan 2026
Search
23 Jan 2026
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Household water bills will increase by 8.67% in April, Scottish Water has announced.
It means household water and waste water bills will rise by £42 per year on average, with the increase taking the average annual charge in Scotland to £532.
Scottish Water, which is publicly owned, said the money will enable it to maintain essential services for more than five million people and support investment to upgrade infrastructure.
It said the country’s water and waste water system is facing increasing pressure including growing demand and more extreme weather.
Scotland had its driest start to the year in six decades in 2025 with rainfall at just 59% of normal levels and daily demand spiked by 100 million litres.
Other challenges include an increase in repairs as older infrastructure comes to the end of its operational life.
Alex Plant, Scottish Water chief executive, said: “We understand any rise is unwelcome, but as a publicly-owned organisation every penny our customers pay goes into improving services for people in Scotland – from tackling ageing pipes, to responding to ever more extreme weather, to enabling new homes to be built.
Customer charges for 2026-27, which fund vital water and waste water services in Scotland, have been announced.
Publicly-owned, our focus remains on keeping bills affordable while continuing to invest in essential services.
Read more: https://t.co/SjcbZTxlnL pic.twitter.com/sQlpIx2nez
— Scottish Water (@scottish_water) January 23, 2026
“We know that sustainable investment now protects customers from higher costs in the future.”
The 8.67% increase is in line with limits set by the independent economic regulator, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, Scottish Water said.
The increase will apply from April.
Most households in Scotland pay water and waste water charges through their council tax bill, based on the band of their home.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
