Words by Nick Crockford
Unitywater has frozen its water and sewerage usage charges for the seventh consecutive year – but water bills in the Moreton Bay Region will still go up.
Chairman Michael Arnett said Unitywater customers in the Moreton Bay Region will see a $5 reduction in part of their overall bill.
“Unitywater froze all water and sewerage charges last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and water and sewerage usage charges were frozen for five consecutive years prior to that,” said Mr Arnett.
“Our priority is maintaining high-quality, safe and reliable services for our customers, while working to keep bills low for these essential services.”
Bulk water rise
However, the average Moreton Bay customer will still pay about $10 (0.6 per cent) more, which is due to a 3.5 per cent increase, or $15 per annum increase, in the State Government bulk water price.
State Government bulk water charges are passed through to Unitywater customers at cost.
The average 2021-22 bill for a Moreton Bay residential household (using 139kL per year or 380L per day) will be $1599 up from $1589 in 2020-21.
Usage charges on the average customer’s bill are about 39 per cent, which gives customers more power when it comes to lowering their bill by reducing consumption.
Below: Values in brackets show a decrease in the Unitywater components of a customer's bill.
Five-year plan
“We encourage customers who may have trouble paying their bill to contact us as soon as possible so that we can help them,” Unitywater Chief Executive Officer George Theo said.
Over the next five years, Unitywater will invest close to $1 billion in water and sewerage infrastructure across its service region.
“Unitywater plans to invest $229 million on its water supply and sewerage infrastructure during 2021-22, he said.
Caboolture West
“Some of the water and sewerage network investment will be directed to projects accommodating growth, including emerging communities like Caboolture West.”
“This year, more than one third (34 per cent) of the capital investment will go towards renewing infrastructure to ensure our current assets perform at the standards required to meet customers’ needs.
The 2021-22 prices come into effect on July 1, 2021. Full details can be found at www.unitywater.com/pricing
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