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In 2004 the cost of tap water, paid by a Sydney water customer, was 98 cents per kilolitre (1,000 litres)
By December 2010 this had risen to 201.2 cents per kilolitre (1,000 litres).

This chart may help to explain the changes in costs by using an actual example:

Date	K/litres used	Annual Water Cost	per K/l	Annual Fixed Cost	Annual Total Bill	Daily Cost
2004	163	$161.48	$0.99	$419.57	$581.05	$1.51
2005	183	$185.47	$1.01	$430.43	$615.90	$1.72
2006	298	$365.78	$1.23	$431.82	$797.60	$2.19
2007	430	$566.16	$1.32	$480.84	$1,047.00	$2.85
2008	437	$646.99	$1.48	$509.96	$1,156.95	$3.13
2009	463	$803.23	$1.73	$579.27	$1,382.50	$3.79
2010	576	$1,110.18	$1.93	$572.47	$1,682.65	$4.57

The above shows a few different statistics

• Actual water usage increased by 253%
• Water Cost per K/l increased by 95%
• Daily Cost increased by 203%
• Fixed Charges Increased by 36%

However, IF the tenant had kept to the same water usage as in 2004, the bills would have been more like this:

Date	K/litres used	Annual Water Cost	per K/l	Annual Fixed Cost	Annual Total Bill	Daily Cost
2004	163	$161.48	$0.99	$419.57	$581.05	$1.51
2005	163	$165.20	$1.01	$430.43	$595.63	$1.66
2006	163	$200.07	$1.23	$431.82	$631.89	$1.74
2007	163	$214.61	$1.32	$480.84	$695.45	$1.89
2008	163	$241.33	$1.48	$509.96	$751.29	$2.03
2009	163	$282.78	$1.73	$579.27	$862.05	$2.36
2010	163	$314.17	$1.93	$572.47	$886.64	$2.41

You can see the change in the above statistics would now be:

Actual water useage increased by 0%
Water Cost per K/l increased 95%
Daily Cost increased by 60%
Fixed Charges Increased by 36%

Note the highlighted figure of Daily Cost showing an increase of only 60%, based on increased costs only, in comparison to the actual 203% based on increased consumption and increased cost.

OK, 60% is still a high figure, but how does that compare to wage increases over the same period.  Again, most people experience different wage changes, in the same way as we all use differing amounts of water, but if we look at the average wages quoted by the ABS we can see that average wages have increased by 30%.

The Final Result is that water costs have really risen at about twice the rate of average wages, once any personal changes in water use have been taken out of the equation.

With the above actual bill, the savings, by being careful with water usage, would have been $2,259.65 over seven years.

Actual water cost over seven years totalled $7,263.65
This would have been only $5004.00 if they had used the same amount of water, as they did in 2004, in each successive year.

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