Food, gas, electricity… In all sectors, prices have been on the rise in France in recent months. The price of tap water will also rise this year in many communities. This is the case in metropolitan Rennes where the service is provided by Eau du bassin rennais. In a press release, the local public company announces that the bill will increase by 1.5 euros on average per month.
To make its calculation, Eau du bassin rennais uses the average consumption of a household, estimated at 60 m³ (60,000 litres) per year. For this volume of water, the inhabitants of the Rennes metropolitan area will now pay 158.32 euros, compared to 139.95 euros last year. “It was decided to limit the repercussion of inflation for the subscription part, i.e. an increase of 1.14 euros per year, and to accentuate the increase for consumption tranches greater than 100 m³ per year”, explains the local public company.
Aid for the most vulnerable
It justifies this increase by the inflationary context which weighs on its expenses. Its annual electricity bill will thus be multiplied by 3.5 and increase from two million euros in 2022 to seven million in 2023. The rise in the price of the reagents needed to make water drinkable (bleach, lime , soda, activated carbon, etc.) also comes into play with “an increase of one million euros in purchasing expenses”, as will the costs of new construction sites, which will jump by 15 to 20%.
To help the most precarious, Eau du bassin rennais pays aid of 20 euros per year to beneficiaries of the solidarity health contribution, and a large family water credit of 15 euros per child from the third child.