In Denmark there is no subsidization of water services. All costs for water supply and sanitation are comprised of the price paid by the consumers.
The price of water is derived from five elements:
The price of water paid by a household depends on the amount consumed. The reason for the disparity in pricing based on volume is due to price components, which can vary from one water company to the next.
Some companies have choosen to charge a fixed annual contribution for water or waste water and a price per cubic meter for water consumed, whilst others charge only for the water used.
The average price of water therefore depends on average consumption. Because of the fixed annual drinking water contributions are calculated by household (rather than per person, for example) it is practical to use the average price a typical household pays.
The average household consumes around 83.4 m3 water each year (equal to 106 L per person per day), yielding an average price of DKK 63.24 per m3 water.
We can discern from this that water costs a Danish household on average almost DKK 5300 a year. This is equal to DKK 0.063 for every litre of water.
For a person living alone the average price for water is slightly higher at DKK 71.22 per m3 based on consumption of 50 m3 of water per year, while the price is lower for a family with 3 children at DKK 57.15 per m3 based on a year’s consumption of 170 m3.
If the company charges solely on the basis of usage, the price will be the same in all three examples. The average price for a typical family increased 0.9% over the previous year.