2026 Charges

Water bills are increasing from the 1st January 2026 to fund a £130 million, 12-year investment programme.

This investment is essential to upgrade Guernsey’s ageing water and wastewater infrastructure, meet stricter drinking water guidelines (especially for PFAS “forever chemicals”), and prepare for future droughts by expanding water storage at Les Vardes Quarry.

Without these upgrades, the risk of supply interruptions, bursts, and water quality failures would increase, leading to higher costs and disruption in the future.

The price rise is not because Guernsey Water wants to charge more, but because it is necessary to safeguard the island’s water supply for generations to come.

Questions and Answers

Your Bill

How much more will I have to pay each month or year?

Metered customers: Bills will rise by 14p to £1.79 per day (a 9.3% increase, about £50 more per year).

Unmetered customers: Bills will rise by 20p to £2.62 per day (an 8.4% increase, about £75 more per year).

Cesspit customers: Bills will rise by 5.1%. The collection service remains approximately two-thirds subsidised by all wastewater customers. This increase keeps that ratio.

	2025	2026
Quarterly Standing charge - water	£19.46	£20.33
Metered usage charge - water	£1.37	£1.49
Unmetered / TRP charge - water	£0.39	£0.42

Quarterly standing charge - wastewater	£33.52	£34.89
Metered usage charge - wastewater (90% of water usage)	£2.66	£2.96
Unmetered / TRP charge - wastewater	£0.70	£0.77

Cesspit Collection (standard rate)	£31.41	£32.69
Cesspit Collection (subsidised rate)	£10.47	£10.89

When will the new prices start?
The new prices will apply from January 2026.

Will there be more price rises in the future?
Bills are expected to rise by at least inflation for the duration of the investment plan, but the exact amount will be confirmed each year. Guernsey Water is committed to minimising increases by reinvesting surpluses and finding operational savings. We returned to surplus in 2024 and will achieve a £500,000 surplus in 2025, every penny of which will be reinvested into the infrastructure plan to keep rises to an absolute minimum.

I’m struggling with bills already—what help is available if I can’t afford the increase?
If you’re worried about how these changes might affect you, please contact Guernsey Water on 229500 or email customer.service@water.gg. The team is available to listen and help where we can.

Are there any guarantees that prices won’t rise again soon?
Bills are expected to rise by at least inflation for the duration of the investment plan, but the exact amount will be confirmed each year. Guernsey Water is committed to minimising increases by reinvesting surpluses and finding operational savings. We returned to surplus in 2024 and will achieve a £500,000 surplus in 2025, every penny of which will be reinvested into the infrastructure plan to keep rises to an absolute minimum.

How is Guernsey Water making sure costs are kept down?
Savings have been achieved by insourcing services, operational changes, and not recruiting for some roles due to new technology. We challenged all budget holders and they’ve returned with operational savings that have helped returned us to surplus. We are ensuring every pound is spent wisely and operate as efficiency as possible.

Who can I contact if I have questions?
You can call Guernsey Water on 229500 or email customer.service@water.gg.

Charges in general.

Standing Charges

The standing charge is a fixed cost applied to all customers. It covers the cost of providing customers with the ability to use water. Even if they use no water at all, Guernsey Water must cover the cost of providing all the pipes, pumps and other infrastructure that makes the water available to them if they want it. The standing charge is not enough to cover this cost, but it makes an important contribution to it.

This charge applies regardless of how much water you use and ensures the service is always available to your property.

Clean (Potable) Water Charges

These charges relate to treatment and supply of safe drinking water to your home or business, They cover:

Abstraction of raw water

Treatment to drinking water quality standards

Distribution through the water mains network

Wastewater Charges

Wastewater charges cover the treatment and safe disposal of wastewater and sewage once it enters the public network.

This includes:

Operation and maintenance of public sewers and pumping stations

Wastewater treatment processes

Safe return of treated effluent to the environment

Wastewater charges are higher than clean water charges because it is more complex and costly to collect, process and treat wastewater to environmental standards.

Cesspit Customers

If your property uses a cesspit and is not connected to the public sewer:

Cesspit charges cover the collection and transfer of your wastewater by tanker from your property to the sewerage network.

This is why wastewater charges still apply – while collection is separate, the wastewater still requires full treatment once is leaves your property.

Your Services

What am I getting for the extra money?
You’re helping fund major upgrades to our critical infrastructure, including the Ring Main, Les Vardes, PFAS treatment facilities, and improved sewer services. These investments will ensure safe, reliable water and wastewater services for decades, protect against drought, and keep water quality high. The Ring Main will ensure the northern parishes are supplied with sufficient pressure until the year 2100, Les Vardes will provide the best value protection drought the island could have, boosting storage capacity by 30% and becoming our largest ever reservoir. PFAS treatment is expensive but unavoidable due to meeting tightening regulations and protect public health.

Will this investment mean better water quality?
Yes. Around £20 million has been estimated for investment in water treatment, this is specific to the removal of PFAS, which currently prevents Guernsey Water from collecting from 15% of the islands water catchment. This makes the island less resilient to drought. In addition, the Drinking Water Inspectorate has advised it will be making its guideline levels stricter in future, Guernsey Water are planning for this.

More information can be found on water.gg/PFAS

Will this investment mean fewer supply interruptions?
The upgrades are designed to reduce the risk of supply interruptions, and ensure the network can meet future demand. PFAS treatment will help keep water safe, and new infrastructure will make the system more resilient. Without the £11m. Ring Main project there is a real risk of a loss of pressure at best or a catastrophic burst at worst in the north, leaving thousands without water. This investment makes this much less likely. Much of our critical infrastructure is coming to the end of its life and needs replacement – for instance, in the new year Mill Street is having an 80 year old water main replaced.

How will these upgrades affect my daily water service?
Most upgrades are planned to minimise disruption. You should not notice any change in your daily water service, except for improved reliability and quality over time. If any works will affect supply, Guernsey Water will notify customers in advance. This is a programme due to roll out over the next 12 years.

Why is the cesspit service subsidised.
The cesspit collection service is subsidised by all wastewater customers to ensure affordability for those not connected to the main sewer network. This is because there are no plans to extend the network before 2040 and it was felt this subsidy would reflect that.

Why are there no plans to extend the sewer network?
Unfortunately, we don’t expect any funding to be available for sewerage network extension before 2040. That is because we must prioritise maintaining the service we provide customers today by renewing water and wastewater infrastructure that is getting old – schemes like the recent refurbishment of one of the drinking water storage tanks at Forest Road, which is around 60 years old.

We also need to ensure the island has enough water to cope with climate change and a growing population by 2040, which will require major investment in water treatment and a new reservoir.

If we don’t prioritise in this way the cost for water customers will be even higher when we are already asking them to pay more. It is a difficult balance as some customers, in this case cesspit customers will inevitable be disappointed, but this is what we have recommended and earlier in the year the States agreed when they voted on the future use of Les Vardes Quarry.

We should also keep in mind that the cost of extending the sewerage network to connect most of the remaining cesspit customers is expected to run into the hundreds of millions and could take up to 100 years to achieve. It will be a major undertaking.

Guernsey Water's 12 year investment programme

What is PFAS and why does it matter for my water?
PFAS are “forever chemicals” that can persist in the environment and affect water quality. New regulations require stricter limits in drinking water, prompting investment in treatment facilities to ensure Guernsey’s water remains safe.

Visit water.gg/PFAS for more information

What is Les Vardes Quarry and why is it being converted into a reservoir?
Les Vardes Quarry is being converted into a reservoir to increase Guernsey’s water storage capacity by 30%. This will help protect the island against drought and ensure a reliable supply for the future. This is a strategic decision taken by the States and is our insurance policy against drought in the future, giving us more than one billion litres of water we can store and use when necessary. After a washout summer of 2024 followed by one of the driest in 2025, it’s vital we do what we can to safeguard against this unpredictability.

Why do we need to invest so much money now?
Many of Guernsey Water’s assets are ageing and need replacement or upgrade. Investing now prevents costly emergency repairs, supply interruptions, and ensures compliance with new water quality standards. It pays to invest now, as it saves money later. For instance, our no-dig sewer relining project costs one-fifth of a full replacement and takes just 10% of the time. Doing nothing is not a cost-free option, as these assets will eventually fail without investment now. Repairs cost a lot more than a pre-emptive fix – and this programme will allow us to systematically tackle the backlog of maintenance we have and ensure our assets are fit for the next generation.

What happens if these investments aren’t made?
Without investment, the risk of bursts, sewer collapses, water quality failures, and supply interruptions would increase, leading to higher costs and disruption for customers. It’s fair to say most people don’t spend time thinking about the hundreds of miles of pipes, treatment works, reservoirs or any of the infrastructure to get water safely from source to sea. But we do. And to keep the water safely flowing to and from your homes and businesses, we need to make this investment. Doing nothing isn’t a cost-free option: it would mean fixing after a break costing vastly more in time, disruption and ultimately money which you would have to pay. This investment is planned and we are ensuring every pound is spent wisely.

How long will these projects take to complete?
The investment programme spans 12 years, with major projects phased over this period. Some upgrades will be completed sooner, while others (like Les Vardes reservoir) are expected to be online around 2040. Full updates will be provided on our social media channels and releases sent to local media outlets.

Why can’t savings or surpluses be used to avoid price rises?
All surpluses are reinvested to reduce the need for future price rises, but the scale of investment required means some increase is unavoidable if we are to deliver all the benefits that come from the investment plan. If we borrowed all the money, those bills would still be passed onto you to pay. This is the most effective balance between funding the service we provide today through charges, and spreading the cost of improvements between more customers over a longer period of time.

2026 Charges in the media