Water bills to rise 15.5% as utility announces £48m upgrades

Jersey Water's new five-year plan to improve the island's water security is coming at a cost to customers, with bills going up by 15.5% in January 2026.

The average annual household will increase by £59.48 next year.

A further 'above average' increase is expected in 2027. It follows a 5.7% rise this year, 10.9% in 2024 and 6% in 2023.

Jersey Water has announced a new five year plan to address future water shortages and protect the island's supply.

It is warning we face a potential deficit of 8.6 million litres of water during periods of dry weather by 2035. This is almost half of the island's daily usage.

The utility company believes that, without action, islanders may experience emergency measures being put in place and potential water restrictions during droughts.

It suggests a series of essential upgrades are needed.

CEO Helier Smith says the critical investments are designed to tackle some serious challenges.

"If we don't make the investment, there's potential for water resource deficit during drought, so we really need to invest in securing the island's water supply.

"It builds on the investment we've made in previous years.

"We extended the desalination plant 10 years ago, and now it's time to do that again."

Jersey Water CEO Helier Smith. Credit: Jersey Water

Jersey Water wants to increase the capacity of the desalination plant, which converts seawater into fresh water by 50%.

It had to be used this summer, following one of the driest springs on record, to boost supplies.  It costs upwards of £5,000 per day to run and a megawatt of electricity.

READ: Desalination plant is now boosting water reserves at £5,000 per day

Leaks will be addressed using 'advanced detection' and new technology, and sections of the mains network will be 'renewed'.

The upgrades are predicted to cost £48 million.

Jersey's Desalination Plant

The report suggests a multitude of water-saving ideas, including exploring a further expansion of the desalination plant, recycling water at Bellozanne and even a new reservoir, or expanding an existing one.

However, CEO Helier Smith says the preferred option would be focusing on the desalination plant.

"The cost of a desalination plant is measured in tens of millions of pounds, whereas the cost of a new reservoir is measured in terms of hundreds of millions of pounds.

"It's really on Jersey Water and the community to do everything we possibly can to safeguard resources, use the assets we've got really well, to push off investment in a new reservoir at some point in the future."

Jersey Water will also pump £2 million over the next two yeas into addressing the island's PFAS problem.

The 'forever chemicals' polluted borehole water sources in St Peter, after it was used in airport firefighting foam.

The initial allocation is for interim treatment and pilot trials for long term solutions, but the company says proposed 'precautionary' changes in water quality regulation will likely require major changes to existing water treatment processes and 'potentially an entirely new treatment facility'.

"Our treatment works are located in narrow valleys, so the footprint of the current treatment works isn't always easy to accommodate the size of a treatment PFAS process.

"We're potentially having to look at locations remote from our treatment works, to actually locate the PFAS treatment processes, should that be needed."