During a recent episode of Good Morning Britain, ITV's news correspondent Richard Gaisford was seen reporting live from Langstone Harbour, eagerly awaiting an announcement from OFWAT, the water services regulation authority, on the expected rise in water bills.
Charlotte Hawkins had previously informed viewers that bills were likely to rise by at least 21 percent over the next five years. However, Jonathan received the actual figure live on air.
Richard revealed: "Well, we're just hearing from the regulator OFWAT that, on average, across England and Wales, water bills will go up over the next five years by 36 percent.
"That's the average figure here in the Southern Water region; we're expecting a 53 percent rise in those water bills to pay for so much of the mess that we've been talking about this morning.
"That means that in this part of the world, people's bills will go up by some £222 over that five-year period, so a significant rise for so many people as we've been talking about this morning at a time when so many people can least afford it," reports the Mirror.
Reacting to these figures, Charlotte remarked: "That means £31 a year increasing each year over the next five years. That's a significant amount of money, isn't it for people? In a typical household."
Richard concurred, stating: "It's a lot more than what anyone was expecting. We were expecting 21 percent and £20 a year, but 36 percent and £31. That's the average!"
Richard whistled in sheer disbelief upon hearing that water bills in the Southern region were set to rocket by a whopping 53 percent. Meanwhile, Charlotte dropped another bombshell, revealing many locals are currently parched with no running water due to supplier dramas.
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She said: "Just to say, OFWAT has said that this increase will pay for a £104 billion upgrade of the water sector to deliver substantial lasting improvements for customers and the environment."
Viewers didn't hang about and took straight to Twitter to air their frustrations over the price increase.
One miffed viewer vented: "It is outrageous that bills will rise when all water companies are doing is turning it into dividends for shareholders. Water companies should not be doing this. It should be a non profit."
Someone else added: "Watching the news about the price rises for water and thought I wonder what @Feargal_Sharkey thinks about this. I am delighted I'm about to find out as he's on! "
Another fumed: "what a joke these water companies are, first they can't announce the ridiculous increase correctly. Here is a idea.... DONT pay the executives there massive bonuses and use that money to invest."
With someone else commenting: "Water bills going up along with energy prices how they expecting people to live?"
Good Morning Britain continues weekdays on ITV from 6am.