The price of water is expected to increase all around the Czech Republic in the next five years, the daily Mladá Fronta Dnes reported on Wednesday. In some regions prices could go up by up to one third. The biggest hike can be expected in regions where water is pumped from underground reservoirs.

Photo: Jan Rosenauer

Experts estimate that an average Czech household consumes around 100 litres per person per day. A four-member family uses around 150000 litres per year.

According to the daily, such amounts could become a luxury in just a few years’ time, with the government’s attempt to fight the ongoing drought by pushing the prices up.

The steepest rise should be seen in regions which rely on underground water reservoirs. These should become more strictly controlled by the government, and payments for drawing the underground water should be three times higher than now within the next six years.

“Underground water is regarded as a strategic and in fact irreplaceable commodity. The current fee is several times lower than for the consumption of surface water and they haven’t been raised for several years now,” financial analyst, Martin Kopecký, told Mladá Fronta Dnes. This will concern mainly the regions of Olomouc, Přerov, Hradec Králové and Brno, which mostly use underground water resources, while the regions of Prague, Ostrava, Liberec and České Budějovice are mostly supplied with water from dams.

According to the economic deputy for the waterworks company in Přerov, Jan Sabadoš, he expects water prices in 2021 to be up by 25 to 30 percent, counting for inflation and fees for water consumption and release of waste water.

The town of Krnov in North Moravia currently has the cheapest water in North Moravia, 45.43 crowns per cubic metre. Water prices in the Czech capital are slightly above the average, around 85 crowns, while in Trutnov and Pilsen, people pay over 100 crowns for the same amount.

The most expensive water can be found in the village of Trnová near Prague, which costs over 162 crowns, due to the fact that the municipality is not connected to any major water system.