South West Water (SWW) has launched a new trial tariff that will see people being charged less during the winter and about three times more during the summer.

The two-year trial came into effect on October 1 for 3,500 customers, who were chosen by the company as they have water meters.

The winter rate will be charged from this month until the end of March next year, while the summer rate will come into effect in April and end on September 30.

SWW said the tariff would be “kind to the environment” and fair for customers as they would be saving money “by using less water”.

SWW said: “The more people who remain on this trial, the more accurate our findings will be, meaning we’ll be able to bring a fairer way of charging to more people in the South West.”

The firm said it had excluded customers on social tariffs from the trial, and requested those with financial concerns to notify SWW by filling an online form.

But some customers are angry at the move, noting that the trial is not optional and that as SWW is a monopoly, they cannot change supplier if they are not happy with the service.

The BBC cited the case of two customers who complained about the tariff, with one saying he would end up paying more for water.

Another customer from Torquay who wished to remain anonymous told this paper that SWW had rejected his request to opt out of the trial.

Asked for a response, SWW commented on the reported dissatisfaction, saying: "We will of course listen to any customer who may not want to take part in the trial. All feedback is valuable feedback. We hope that our customers will want to remain part of this so that we can help people to only pay for the water they use.

“Customers told us they wanted new and fairer ways of being billed for their water use, we have heard them loud and clear which is why this trial is launching in October."

The new tariff comes into effect shortly after the news that SWW took a £16 million hit from the recent cryptosporidium outbreak.

During the crisis, which lasted from May to July, the company instructed some 17,000 households in Kingswear, Hillhead and parts of Brixham to boil their tap water.

In the meantime, SWW distributed bottled water over an eight-week period as it processed compensation claims, which could reach about £3.5 million.

In an unrelated development, Greenpeace has highlighted an internal study by the Environmental Agency which found “a sharp decline in water quality” at top-rated beaches in the West Country.

It said that between October 2023 and March this year at half of the beaches there were much higher levels of E coli and Intestinal Enterococci, which is found in human and animal faeces, and can lead to serious gastrointestinal illness.

This is despite SWW stating that it had made a commitment in its 2022-2025 plan to maintain excellent bathing water quality standards “all year round”.