Singapore Water Prices to Increase by 18.2%: Here's What You Can Do

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28 Sep 2023

Do you love long showers?

Because if you do, you should probably reduce your shower time because water prices are set to increase by 18.2% in 2024 and 2025!

The increment will be conducted in two phases – 20 cents per cubic metre from 1 April 2024, and another 30 cents per cubic metre from 1 April 2025, bringing a 50 cents per cubic metre increase in total.

Read on to find out how the latest changes can affect you, and practical cost savings action you can take!

TL;DR: Here’s What You Can Do When Water Prices Increase in Singapore

Click here to jump:

Water prices in 2024 and 2025
How will this affect you?
Will there be new measures to address the price hike?

Prices of Water in Singapore

Most Singaporeans would’ve already felt the pinch when they were paying for utilities.

After all, this is not the first time water charges are going up, and just last year, electricity prices have also increased. Meanwhile, public transport fares are also expected to increase by seven per cent or 10 and 11 cents from December 2023.

Currently, water prices are set at $2.74 per cubic metre (or per 1,000 litres), but from 1 April 2024, you will be charged $2.94 per cubic metre for Housing Development Board (HDB) households.

And from 1 April 2025, you will be charged $0.30 more per cubic metre, meaning, $3.24 per cubic metre used.

But if you’re living in an HDB and your water usage is above 40 cubic metres (currently priced at $3.69 per cubic metre), this will be raised by 25 cents to $3.94 per cubic metre.

And it will increase by another 45 cents the following year to $4.39 per cubic metre.

To put things into perspective, a one- and two-room HDB flat will see an average increase of $4 per month in their water bill, while other HDB households will see an average rise of between $6 and $9 per month.

Private apartment households will see an average increase of $7 a month.

Three-quarters of businesses in Singapore will see an increase of less than $25 a month in their water bills, while three in four hawkers will experience about $15 increase in utility bills per month.

This is a breakdown of how water prices are calculated in Singapore:

How Are Water Prices Increasing?

The latest price revision came six years after the last revision in 2017, amid the rising cost of producing and supplying water.

In particular, these are areas which led to an overall increase in the cost of building, operating and maintaining Singapore’s water system:

Open market tariff for electricity has increased by 37 per cent
Expenses for chemicals have increased by 33 per cent
Construction costs shown on the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Tender Price Index have risen by 35 per cent
Maintenance costs increased by 18 per cent.

This is not a standalone situation in Singapore.

Globally, according to this year’s Global Water Tariff Survey, the average yearly increase in combined water, wastewater, and stormwater bills hit 8.2 per cent due to inflationary and cost pressure. In comparison, Singapore’s increase in water price is about 2.5 per cent since her last revision in 2017.

Furthermore, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) requires continued investments to maintain a sustainable water supply for Singapore, including the building of new infrastructures and upgrading old water treatment plants to cater to future needs.

How Will This Affect Singaporeans?

All in all, we can expect to see the following changes to your utility bills:

Average water bill per month (before GST)*	1-room HDB	2-room HDB	3-room HDB	4-room HDB	5-room, Executive & Multi-Gen HDB	Private Housing
Current	$22	$26	$34	$42	$48	$38
From 1 Apr 2024	$23	$28	$36	$46	$51	$41
From 1 Apr 2025	$26	$31	$40	$50	$57	$45
Change in bill after price increment (before govt support)	$4	$5	$6	$8	$9	$7

Source: PUB

*Based on data on average household water consumption from July 2022 to June 2023.

Read more:

Are There Financial Support For The Price Changes?

For the uninitiated, the Government announced during Budget 2023 that it will be disbursing GST Vouchers for Utilities (GSTV U-Save Rebates) throughout 2023 and this coming October, you should be receiving between $55 and $95, depending on your HDB flat-type.

HDB Flat Type	January 2024 & 2025	July 2024 & 2025	April 2024 & 2025	October 2024 & 2025	Total GSTV U-Save for 2024
	Regular U-Save + AP U-Save	Regular U-Save + AP U-Save	Regular U-Save + AP U-Save	Regular U-Save + AP U-Save
1- and 2-Room	$95 (+$20) $115	$115	$115	$115	$460
3-Room	$85 (+$20) $105	$105	$105	$105	$420
4-Room	$75 (+$20) $95	$95	$95	$95	$380
5-Room	$65 (+$20) $85	$85	$85	$85	$240
Executive / Multi-Generation	$55 (+$20) $75	$75	$75	$75	$300
Notes: (1) Households whose members own more than one property are not eligible for GSTV – U-Save

The vouchers will automatically offset your bills if you’re eligible.

Just today, it announced that there will be more disbursements to cope with the water prices, at $20 per quarter from January 2024 to December 2025 or a total of $80 per year for two years.

That said, there are two programmes which you can consider to bring down your water bills.

Climate Friendly Households Programme

The Climate Friendly Households Programme is a PUB-led programme that subsidises the cost of installing climate-friendly appliances for eligible 1-room, 2-room and 3-room HDB households.

You can receive up to three electronic vouchers totalling $225 to offset the cost of purchasing climate-friendly refrigerators ($150), water-efficient fittings ($50) and LED lights ($25). There are participating merchants to which you can go for the use of these vouchers.

You can register for the Electronic Climate Vouchers online:

Visit go.gov.sg/cfhp
Login via SingPass
Complete the form and submit
Receive an SMS within two days if you’re eligible
Click on the link to access e-vouchers

Water Efficiency Fund

Businesses can apply to tap into the Water Efficiency Fund by PUB to improve their water efficiency.

Depending on the project you’re applying for, the funding amount differs. These are the eligibility criteria:

Name of Project	Description of Funding Programme	Eligibility Criteria	Funding Framework
Water Efficiency Assessment	A water audit is carried out for the premises to monitor and identify opportunities for improvement in water efficiency	Premises with monthly water consumption* of at least 1,000 cubic metres	PUB will grant 50% of the cost of water efficiency assessment, subject to a cap of $30,000
Pilot Study	Implementation of a small-scale pilot recycling plant to determine the feasibility of implementing the project/technology on a full-scale basis	Premises with monthly water consumption* of at least 1,000 cubic metres	PUB will grant 50% of the cost of the pilot study, subject to a cap of $50,000
Recycling / Use of Alternate Sources of Water	Implementation of a full-scale recycling plant for the realisation of water savings	At least 10% water savings OR annual water savings of at least 6,000 cubic metres	PUB will grant support to the applicant a) Water Savings Incentive: At $0.71 for every cubic metre of PW / $0.45 for every cubic metre of NW / $0.37 for every cubic metre of IW saved over the economic life of the water recycling plant or 15 years (whichever is earlier); OR b) Capital Cost: Up to 50% of the capital cost of the water recycling plant. Subject to a cap of $1 million per project
Adoption of Water Efficient Equipment	Realisation of water savings with the use of water-efficient equipment or through adopting water-efficient processes	Premises with minimum monthly water consumption* of at least 1,000m Annual water savings of at least 1,200 cubic metres	PUB will grant support to the applicant a) Water Savings Incentive: At $0.71 for every cubic metre of PW / $0.45 for every cubic metre of NW / $0.37 for every cubic metre of IW saved over the economic life of the water recycling plant or 15 years (whichever is earlier); OR b) Capital Cost: Up to 50% of Total Qualifying Cost (TQC), including equipment cost and construction/installation cost Subject to a cap of $300,000 per project
Industrial Water Solutions Demonstration Fund (IWSDF)	Implementation of a full-scale recycling plant for the realisation of water savings. IWSDF aims to support early adopters of innovative solutions or emerging / recently developed technologies.	Premises with monthly water consumption* of at least 10,000 cubic metres At least 5% water reduction within the premises The project should utilise an emerging / recently developed technology or an innovative application of existing technologies which has not been implemented in the industry, and that is approved by PUB.	PUB will grant support to the applicant a) Water Savings Incentive: At $0.71 for every cubic metre of PW / $0.45 for every cubic metre of NW / $0.37 for every cubic metre of IW saved over the economic life of the water recycling plant or 15 years (whichever is earlier); OR b) Capital Cost: Up to 50% of the capital cost of the water recycling plant. Subject to a cap of $4 million per project

*Monthly water consumption includes consumption of Potable Water (PW)/ NEWater (NW) and Industrial Water (IW) based on the last 6 months of water bills. For individual premises with monthly consumption each of less than 1000m3, customers can choose to apply for this fund collectively.

Best Credit Cards for Utilities

As the saying goes, when life gives you a lemon, you make lemonade.

What you can do for yourself is to find the best ways to save costs when you can.

How to do so? Use a credit card for utilities and earn cashback and rebates from there. For some, you can even switch electricity provider to save more.