Millions of households will pay at least 10% more for tap water in 2024

Customers of drinking water company Vitens will pay more for water from the tap next year. For an average household, this is an increase of about 1.60 euros per month. According to Vitens, this is due to rising costs and inflation.

A household with an average water consumption will spend 16.69 euros per month instead of 15.10 euros per month on drinking water next year.

The drinking water company says it will face major challenges in the coming years to supply sufficient and clean drinking water, such as climate change, economic growth, and housing construction, as a result of which demand continues to rise. Vitens expects to use 30 percent more drinking water by 2040, which is 100 billion liters more than now Vitens stated in a press release. That is why the drinking water company will invest significantly more in the coming years, including by deploying fewer but larger production locations. Investments will increase by 367 million euros over the next ten years to 650 million euros in 2033.

The water demand was particularly high in warm and dry months. For example, Vitens is talking about an "unprecedented demand for drinking water" in June of this year. “People water their gardens more often, fill swimming pools, and take an extra shower to cool off. Demand was extremely high, especially during peak hours. Normally the evening peak is between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., but due to the high temperatures, it sometimes lasted until midnight,” the drinking water company said.

That is why Vitens tries to get customers to use drinking water sparingly. The company does this by increasing the costs for usage faster than the fixed costs for maintenance and administration.

Vitens is the largest drinking water company in the Netherlands with 5.9 million customers.