More expensive water for those who use more: that's how Manacor's tariff system will work

ManacorThe Manacor City Council has approved changes to the water rates for water supplied by SAM, the municipal company responsible for its management. The new, more socially oriented system will offer discounts on bills for, for example, large families, single-parent families, families with a dependent person, or families with a victim of gender-based violence. Thus, the City Council is establishing a system of consumption blocks from now on, in order to implement progressive tariffs and "so that those who consume more pay more," explained the Councilor for the Environment and President of the Board of Directors of SAM, Sebastià Llodrà, who recalled that water prices have not been touched since the population changed.

Manacor, in just 10 years, has gone from 42,000 to just over 53,000 inhabitants (a 25% increase). A reality "that has not led to significant urban development," adds Mayor Miquel Oliver, but rather has 'consumed' and congested the urban area. This has increased the consumption of running water, without a corresponding increase in infrastructure. One positive point, however, has been the process of sectorization by zones that has been deployed in the city during this decade, and which has transformed the efficiency of the network, which previously had some leaks. From 60% (more than half of the water that came out of the wells didn't reach the tap) it's now 35%.

"Current water regulations require the implementation of progressive tariffs to tax waste. It's a measure of saving and responsible consumption. This progressive system is already applied, in fact, to the government's fee," he added yesterday during the municipal plenary session, hoping that Vox and the PP would vote in his favor.

Five blocks

The new ordinance introduces a progressive tariff system based on monthly consumption tiers per household. Under this model, the cost of water increases as consumption grows, protecting basic needs and penalizing higher consumption levels. The first tier includes households consuming between 0 and 6 m³ of water per month, paying €0.34/m³; the second, those consuming between 6 and 12 m³, paying €0.83/m³; the third, from 12 to 18 m³: €1.24/m³; the fourth, from 18 to 24 m³: €1.86/m³; and finally, a fifth tier for those consuming more than 24 m³: €4.15/m³. Commercial establishments, meanwhile, will pay a fixed rate of €0.46 per cubic meter.

As explained by the president of SAM, the new model also corrects imbalances in the previous system: "What we had until now did not reflect the current extraction cost. With the new system, 70% of subscribers will remain roughly the same as before, while the 30% of bills, which are those of the highest consumers, will be affected." "Those who use water reasonably will pay what they owe, and those who abuse it will also pay more. Water is a scarce resource," he added. Thus, an average consumer will pay between €18.14 and €21.24 every two months, while someone in the highest income bracket could pay a maximum of €565.02 every two months.

Furthermore, the new ordinance includes a five-year moratorium for multi-family buildings with a single water meter and provides payment plans to facilitate the installation of individual meters. It's worth remembering that in November 2024, the governing team (then in the minority) brought a very similar proposal to the plenary session, which was rejected not only by the PP and Vox parties, but also by their current partners in the PSOE, who criticized the savings in the first phase as being too "symbolic." "On the second bill, those in the fourth tier will have to consider whether they need to save," Llodrà concludes. "The progressive tariff structure incentivizes water conservation, since consumers who exceed a certain limit pay a higher rate. This helps conserve water resources and combat the effects of climate change."