The regulator’s decision will see more than £935 invested for every property across England and Wales, which totals a £22 billion investment in maintaining and improving services to customers, while household bills will remain broadly flat until 2015, with the average bill decreasing by £3, before inflation, to £340.

Regina Finn, Ofwat chief executive officer said: “People can shop around for the best deal on many things, but not water. Our job is to do this for them. Customers have told us that they want to keep water and sewage charges flat while maintaining a safe, reliable supply of water. That’s what we’ve delivered.”

Benefits of the investments proposed by Ofwat include safe and reliable water supplies with more than £1 billion being spent on maintaining and improving drinking water quality. Customers will be protected against being without water in cases of severe flooding and more than 3,000 km of rivers will be maintained or improved to meet EU environmental standards. By 2015 Ofwat estimate water companies could save 100 billion litres of water through meeting water efficiency target, reducing leakage and increasing metering.