Turning on the tap could soon cost you more.

The city's most powerful committee unanimously approved a three-year sewer and water rate hike Wednesday. The increase is expected to cost the average household $69 in 2016, another $100 next year and $92 more the following year, pending council approval.

Mayor Brian Bowman said he will ask if the new Progressive Conservative government will devote more cash towards, or extend provincial deadlines, to complete billions of dollars worth of sewer treatment upgrades. But the mayor said the city can't afford to postpone meeting its obligations in the meantime.

"We have to make a decision based on the facts that we have today. There are a number or investments ... that currently we need to meet," said Bowman.

The city must complete $1.2 billion of wastewater treatment plant upgrades by deadlines set in 2018 and 2019. Following that, the city must also reduce combined sewer overflows at a cost of somewhere between $1 billion and $4 billion.

Some members of city council had argued low-income Winnipeg residents simply can't afford the rate hike, leading to a tied vote on the matter at the city's water and waste committee.