The price of domestic water supply in Barcelona and 22 other cities in its metropolitan area will increase some €2.5 per family per month, which will mean an increase in the cost of about €5 on average per bimonthly invoice, as progressed THE NEWSPAPER and has confirmed the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB)supramunicipal administration competent in metropolitan water management.
The climb, the largest in the last decade, will be approved this Tuesday, November 28 by the Metropolitan Council of the AMBwhich participates in 15% of the mixed company ABEMCIA (Aigües de Barcelona, Empresa Metropolitana de Gesció del Cicle Integral de l’Aigua, SA), the remaining 85% of which corresponds to Aigües de Barcelona (AGBAR).
This increase in the rate, which in Barcelona will lead to an increase in the 11.6% of the final amount of the bill that reaches citizens, is made public in the context of rising costs due to inflation and after that in october Aigües Ter-Llobregat (ATL), public company of the Generalitat of Catalonia and main distributor in the metropolitan area, will announce an increase in the so-called ‘high distribution’ (autonomous jurisdiction) of around 30%.
From the perspective of the final invoice, and taking into account that the average increase of €2.5 per month represents an increase in 11.6% of Barcelona’s bill, The new monthly bill in Barcelona will be around €24/month on average, which corresponds to about €47 per bimonthly invoice on average (until now it was about €42 per bimonthly invoice, approximately). Although it must be taken into account that the rate will depend on the type of address and the cubic liters of water consumed by each home.
The main effect of the increase in the price of water is that it will have a direct impact on households, which assume a bill full of rates resulting from complex technical calculations. To facilitate your understanding, they are set out below five keys to understanding your water bill.
The six components of the water bill
In Barcelona and the other 22 metropolitan municipalities where water is now rising, the price of the supply made by the mixed company ABEMCIAwhich includes the price of the ATL high distribution and which in turn is configured by a fixed fee and another variable depending on consumption, it is only one of the six elements that make up the invoice.
In addition to the ‘componentsupply‘, the final consumer pays in this same invoice for five other concepts: the water canonthat depends of The Catalan Water Agency (Generalitat of Catalunya); the sewer fee (which each town council approves); he VAT; and, finally, two taxes: the WBA Metropolitan Tributewhich is frozen for next 2024, and a waste collection fee that each town council approves.
According to data from Aigües of Barcelonawhich are from the end of 2021 but whose trend is still in force, the aforementioned components represent the following impact on the final invoice: the rates that correspond to the Barcelona’s town hall (sewerage and waste) represent around 23% of the bill; the supply of Aigües of Barcelona, about 22%; the tribute of AMB equals 21% of the bill; the canon of Catalan Water Agency (ACA), at 13.4%; the purchase of water from ATL represents around 10%; VAT and other taxes Tax agency they occupy 9% of the bill; and “other concepts” are 0.8% of the bill.
The type of housing determines the fixed quota of the domestic supply
In the case of the mixed metropolitan company ABEMCIAwhich provides supply in Barcelona and 22 other metropolitan cities and which is participated by the AGBAR group and the AMB, the water tariff system is determined by the uses of water. In it domestic usetypical of Barcelona homes, the fixed fee for the service is stipulated depending on the type of housing.
This fixed fee, according to ACA datarepresents in the cities of the province of Barcelona between 28 and 40% of the bill depending on consumption (the greater the consumption, the less proportion it represents).
Until 2023, a ‘housing A’, for example, the most basic (considers the use of faucet, toilet and sink), has been assigned a fixed fee of €2.60/month; a ‘housing B’ (includes the use of a tap, toilet, sink and shower), a fixed fee of €6.76/month; a ‘house C’ (includes the use of a faucet, dishwasher, washing machine, toilet, sink, bathtub and bidet) carries a fixed fee of €7.66/month; and a ‘home I’, the most sophisticated (includes the use of two taps, two bidets, two terraces, two toilets, two sinks, two bathtubs, dishwasher, washing machine, shower, medium garden and swimming pool), involves a fixed fee of €64.77/month.
The AMB estimates that the sum of ‘B homes’ (55% of users) and ‘C homes’ (20% of users) represent approximately 80% of total users whose homes the joint venture supplies water to ABEMCIA.
The six sections for consumption of the variable supply quota
To calculate the final amount of the ‘supply’ component of the invoice, a variable part must be added to the aforementioned fixed fee depending on consumption. Following with the rates in force to datewhich will be updated starting in March 2024, the consumption variable It is divided into six sections.
A first of €0.6180/m³ (consumption of 6 m³/month); a second of €1.2361/m³ (consumption of 7 to 9 m³/month); a third tranche of €1.8541/m³ (consumption of 10 to 15 m³/month); a fourth tranche of €2.4719/m³ (consumption of 16 to 18 m³/month); and a fifth and final tranche of €3.0899/m³ (consumption of more than 18 m³/month).
The calculation of the sections in the final invoice is represented by the sum of their prices depending on the final consumption. In this way, with current rates, at a consumption of 12 m3 a variable fee of €3.70/m would correspond3 (the sum of the three sections, including the one that refers to the number of cubic liters consumed).
The history of the price of water supply in Barcelona
The new rise in water expected from March 2024 It is the highest in the last decade, with that increase of 11.5% in the final amount of the bill that reaches citizens. However, the ACA has published data What has been the increase in the ‘supply’ component of the invoice since 2013 based on a consumption projection of 12 m3/month. Taking into account only the supply (and not the final invoice), The new increase will be 25.8%, which is equivalent to the current €1,836 m3 (2023) become €2,295/m3 only in the ‘supply’ component and within the framework of the aforementioned consumption projection of 12 m3/month.
Before this increase, in the last decade the biggest increase in water in Barcelona took place from 2013 to 2014, when the price of the supply grew almost 14% (from €2.26/m³ to €2.570/m³).
Since then the rate had remained the same. frozen until now. Despite not being the final increase in the invoice, the increase in supply, which is still the ‘heart’ of the invoice, allows us to observe the trend around the price of water that affects the Barcelona consumer’s final bill.
A practical example of a water bill in Barcelona
Related news
In its price study of water in Catalonia for the year 2022, the ACA’s ‘Observatori del preu’ publishes the structure of a ‘type invoice’ of water in Barcelona to facilitate citizen understanding. The specific example is prepared with a consumption projection of 12 m3/month and a ‘type C’ home, which contemplates the use of faucet, dishwasher, washing machine, toilet, sink, bathtub and bidet.
The structure of said invoice is made up of the six elements analyzed in this article: the supply (with fixed and variable fee); he Canyon of the water; the rate of sewerage; he VAT; and both taxes on waste: the metropolitan one, relating to treatmentand the municipal of Barcelona City Council, affected by the selective collection.