Halifax Water is asking for higher rates, again.

It has applied to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board for a 6.4 per cent increase in May 2015 and a further 7.1 per cent rise in April 2016.

If both rate hikes are approved by the review board, the average homeowner in the Halifax area would pay about $8.50 more each month starting May 1, 2016. That amounts to approximately $102 more per year.

James Campbell, a spokesman for Halifax Water, said the utility needs the extra money to maintain services and replace and build infrastructure.

"We have had failing infrastructure, we have infrastructure that's been neglected for decades, and it costs a lot of money to turn this system around," he said Tuesday.

He points to the recent $64 million upgrade and expansion to the Eastern Passage facility as an example of where the money goes.

"We can't keep passing on this legacy of failing infrastructure to our kids and grand kids. We're the ones who are using it and we're the ones who should be paying for it," said Campbell.

"It's a long-term project — about $2.6 billion over the next 30 years to turn the system around."

Campbell said nobody is getting rich from the increases.

"We're not a profit-making utility, we're essentially a not-for-profit municipal utility, so any money or rates that we receive are plowed back into the infrastructure," he said.

There will be a hearing in February to review the application.