The water bill will rise between 11.5% and 15% in Barcelona and its metropolitan area, mainly due to the increase in electricity costs related to the drought, which has led to more use of desalination and other additional costs, such as reagents, more staff or increases in the CPI. Specifically, in Barcelona the increase will be 11.5%, while in other municipalities of the metropolitan area the increase will be close to 15%. This was indicated by Martín Gullón, director of the water cycle of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB). These increases correspond to the 23 municipalities covered by Aigües de Barcelona.
The user will notice an increase of around 2.5 euros per month per family unit or subscriber, which translates into 5 euros on the bill (bimonthly); this is an example for a standard invoice. But logically, the more water is spent, the more noticeable this rise will be in absolute terms.
The main reason for the rise (the biggest in recent years) is the increase in the cost of drinking water. The public company supplying high (Aigües Ter-Llobregat) sells its resources 30% more expensive to the municipalities.
The component of the bill that corresponds to the supply of water in the strict sense will rise by 25.8%, but the total sum of the receipt rises much less than this figure, because the receipt includes other concepts, so that the adjustment final depends in each case on the weight of these other rates. The administrations involved have advanced that they will freeze these other concepts (such as the water fee or waste collection and treatment fees).
In Barcelona, ??since there are more taxes included in the receipt, the increase in the price of water is more masked and the resulting increase is 11.5%; but in other localities (also supplied by Aigües de Barcelona), which have fewer concepts unrelated to the water cycle, the percentage increases will be greater: 15% in L’Hospitalet or Cerdanyola, 14% in Begues or Castelldefels, 14.9% in Sant Adrià or Sant Climent del Llobregat. Aigües de Barcelona made several proposals for increases, the last of which was 43%, but the metropolitan authorities have only authorized this 25.8%.
Next week the Metropolitan Area of ??Barcelona will approve the new rates and at the end of February the costs for the March bill could start to increase.
The ATL company has justified this with the high cost of electricity and the review of electricity rates, which has been a burden that affects the operating costs of the desalination plants, which have started to operate at full capacity from ‘a continuous way. Currently, 33% of the resources supplied to the 23 municipalities supplied by Aigües de Barcelona come from desalination. In addition, there have been increases in personnel and operating costs (including reagents, necessary to treat water that is originally of a worse quality and whose potability processes must be refined to the maximum). In the specific case of the 23 municipalities supplied by Aigües de Barcelona, ??the costs derived from the Sant Joan Despí water treatment plant also have a very important impact. The drought has forced several hydraulic works to be carried out, and more personnel and maintenance equipment have had to be hired
Aigües de Barcelona buys from ATL between 25% and 30% of the water it supplies; the rest are own flows (Sant Joan Despí drinking water treatment plant, wells…).
The case of El Prat de Llobregat is different, because it supplies water with a municipal company and the effect of the ATL price increase is less relevant (as it has more own resources and buys less water from ATL). The bill, in this case, will rise by 10.1%, which means 1.5 euros per month per family unit or household subscriber.
Gullón indicated, on the other hand, that an increase in families who take advantage of the social tariff is expected, because “there are people who are no longer able to pay for water”. “Water is a basic good; those who cannot pay will not be left without water, no one will be left behind”, he emphasized.
In the area supplied by Aigües de Barcelona (1.4 million subscribers), around 60,000 families are registered on the social tariff, and it is predicted that this figure could reach 100,000 units. Now the AMB subsidizes 100% of the fixed fee of the first section (up to 6 m3/month) and the second section (up to 9 m3/month) for families with unemployed members, who receive the minimum pension or other situations of vulnerability. Tariffs are established based on the five consumption blocks to favor “more responsible” consumers.
