IPART is reviewing the maximum prices that Essential Water can charge customers to provide water and wastewater services. The prices we set in this review apply from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2031.
IPART is also reviewing the maximum prices that WaterNSW can charge customers for water transportation services provided by the Murray River to Broken Hill Pipeline. The prices we set for that review will also apply from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2031.
Prices that WaterNSW charges Essential Water for transporting water from the Murray River are a key factor when reviewing the prices that Essential Water customers in the Broken Hill region pay for water and wastewater services.
We recognise that access to safe, reliable and affordable water at a fair price is critical to our communities, environment and economy
Our price review focuses on protecting customers’ ability to pay and promoting value for money, while aiming to help water businesses remain financially viable to efficiently deliver their services. Our aim is to hold Essential Water accountable in a way that delivers good short-, medium-, and long-term customer outcomes.
What we consider in our decisions
Under the IPART Act, when reviewing water prices, we are required to consider a range of matters, including:
- the cost of providing the service
- consumer protection against abuse of monopoly power by a water utility
- the need to promote competition in the supply of the service
- the need for greater efficiency in the supply of the service to reduce costs to consumers and taxpayers
- appropriate rates of return on public sector assets
- the social impact of our determinations
- the need to maintain ecologically sustainable development and protect the environment.
We have published our Draft Report
For residential customers our draft decision is to cap water and wastewater charges. Under our draft maximum prices, bills for a typical household (using 250 kL per year) would increase by 4.7% plus inflation each year, for the next 5 years. Bills for a typical household would increase by $76, from $1,624 to $1,700 in 2026-27 plus inflation.
This is less than the yearly increases under Essential Water’s proposed price increases of $342 or 15.5% per year (plus inflation). Bills would be on average 27.0% less each year than under Essential Water’s proposed prices.
IPART’s draft decision to cap residential bill increases means that Essential Water will not be able to recover full efficient costs through prices. This shortfall is estimated at $12.6 million (plus inflation) over the next 5 years and would require a government contribution to supplement Essential Water’s income.
Our affordability analysis showed that full cost recovery would require bill increases of around $156, or 8.2%, per year plus inflation.
For non-residential customers our draft decision is to set full cost recovery prices. This means non-residential bill increases will be higher to recover their full share of efficient costs, ranging between 2.8% to 10.9% (before inflation), depending on customer type and water use.
The increases in draft maximum prices reflect the increased efficient costs of Essential Water delivering its services over the next 5 years and our affordability analysis.
In reaching our draft decisions, we considered independent expert advice from Stantec and all feedback received from stakeholders at our Public Hearing, through submissions to our Issues Paper and from responses to our Issues Paper survey. The report by Stantec is available on our website.
We are seeking feedback on our draft decisions
We are seeking stakeholder views on our draft decisions. We invite all stakeholders to make a submission to our Draft Report or to complete our customer survey by 28 April 2026.
You can use the bill calculator to find out what our draft decisions could mean for your bills.
We will consider all feedback received before preparing and releasing our Final Report on prices for Essential Water’s water and wastewater services in May 2026.
The following links provide more information on how we review and determine water prices and about the water businesses that we regulate.
This review will affect Essential Water customers within the communities of Broken Hill, Menindee, Sunset Strip and Silverton. Essential Water provides potable water services to approximately 18,000 residents and non-potable water services to 48 rural users and residents in Silverton and Sunset Strip. Essential Water also provides wastewater services to Broken Hill.