Water bills are due to drop across England and the UK for the coming financial year - which means that South West Water bill payers will have to pay less for both water and sewerage.
Nevertheless, they will still be faced with higher bills than customers elsewhere in the country. Water and sewerage charges combined means South West charges will be £314, compared with an average combined measured bill country-wide of £189.
The average national 12.8 per cent reduction overall stems from price limits announced by Ofwat, the water watchdog, in November.
South West Water's average household bill for water for 2000-01 will be £109 compared with £120 for l999-00, a drop of 9.2 per cent. The average household bill for sewerage will be £205 compared with £240 for 1999-00, a drop of 14.7 per cent. The sewerage charge is the highest in England and Wales.