Piped water charges to increase by 14.9%

Piped water and sewage treatment charges for households will increase by 14.9% and 25.2% on average, respectively, beginning in December.

The Seoul City Hall said that it could not raise the tap water charges because the current rates could cover only 70% of the production cost.

The city government will have raise the charges by similar rates by 2002 in order to ¡°normalize¡± the tap water charges, a city official said Tuesday.

The raise in the tap water charges this time is expected to trigger the rise of public bath and sauna fees early next month, making citizens¡¯ financial burden bigger.

However, the city government has been blamed for its irresponsible administration because it is passing the buck for the losses from water leakage caused by superannuated pipes to the citizens through the raise in water charges.

Currently, the rate of tap water leakage caused by aging pipes amounts to 31.8%.