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Water prices on Rügen are rising: additional costs as early as 2023!
The Rügen association is retroactively increasing water and wastewater fees from 2023, which will place more of a burden on households from 2026.
Water prices on Rügen are rising: additional costs as early as 2023!
A lot is happening in the area of water supply in Rügen: The water supply/wastewater treatment association Rügen (Zwar) has taken a price step that will soon have an impact on numerous households. Retroactively to January 1, 2023, the price of drinking water will increase by 5 cents to 2.04 euros per cubic meter. But that's not all: wastewater fees also rise by 14 cents, reaching 3.63 euros per cubic meter. These adjustments will be due with the new annual financial statements from 2025 onwards Ostsee-Zeitung reported.
A typical four-person household with an annual consumption of 140 cubic meters will therefore be faced with an additional 26.60 euros annually. The reason for the increase is the increased costs in several areas: the promotion and purification of water, repairs, service costs and, in particular, the sharp increase in electricity prices make the adjustment necessary. While electricity costs were still 1.6 million euros in 2022, 2.5 million euros are already planned for the coming years.
Economic framework conditions
The challenges and costs for the association have been exacerbated by a number of factors. Construction prices rose by 15.9 percent in 2022, while personnel costs rose by 5.5 percent in the same year and also rose significantly at 5.1 percent in 2023. This increase in fixed costs meant that water prices needed to be reassessed.
The retroactive validity of the new fee schedule is due to methodological deficiencies in the previous calculation, which have now been corrected. It is exciting to mention that water consumption in the region has been falling continuously since 2019, now from 5 million to 4.5 million cubic meters. Despite this reduction, the cost level remains the same, which results in an undercoverage in the fee determination.
Future developments and challenges
The trends point to further cost increases, among other things due to stricter environmental regulations and growing IT security costs. Additional pressure on water prices is being created by the planned doubling of the levy on the state for subsidized drinking water - this will inevitably be passed on to water fees.
The basic fee for drinking water and wastewater connections will probably also be increased. This increase, currently in the lowest consumption scale at 44.03 euros per year, will not be noticeable on the bills until 2027, but will already be taken into account in the advance payments in 2024. Another exciting fact affecting water prices in Germany is the framework of the cost recovery principle, which represents an essential basis for the formation of fees, as Wikipedia describes.
In summary, the Rügen Association is facing a challenge that addresses both economic viability and the need for sustainable water management. The complexity of pricing shows once again how important it is to ensure transparency in fees and to inform citizens about the background and necessity of price adjustments. Water remains a valuable commodity in this country whose value must always be re-examined. We will be curious to see how the situation develops further.