THE price rises we propose for water bills from next year are there to make sure we protect the quality of tap water and the environment for the future.
This is exactly what our customers say they want us to do ("Politicians would rather cover the country with concrete", You Say, Monday, June 21).
We have the best tap water in the UK and rivers and streams are cleaner than at any time since the Industrial Revolution.
The pipes, pumps and works that provide those services need constant maintenance and updating to protect that record.
In Worcestershire alone, we plan to spend more than £160m over the five years to 2010, on improvements to water quality, water pipes, flooding from sewers and sewage treatment works.
Yet Worcestershire people will see the lowest prices in the country for their water services, if these plans are accepted by Ofwat.
Bills may have to rise from around 58p a day to 73p a day by 2010 to fund this programme, still just more than twice the cost of Worcester's daily newspaper, for a service that is vital to our customers' health and well-being.
JONATHAN BAILEY,
Director of customer relations,
Severn Trent Water.
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