YORKSHIRE Water bosses have laid out proposals for a five-year rise in water charges following today's best-ever quality results.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate revealed standards around the county improved yet again.
After carrying out hundreds of thousands of tests throughout the region, just 137 failed to meet the required targets.
Yorkshire Water bosses hailed the results as a triumph and said that, at just under half a penny a litre, the product represented great value for money.
The company is now proposing to increase the average household bill from £236 to £285 between 2005 and 2010.
That is an increase of 7% in the first year and 3.7% in the following four years.
In 2003, 262,718 tests were carried out on water samples leaving Yorkshire's reservoirs, water treatment work and taps.
Of these 99.95% (262,581) complied with the standards.
DWI inspector Malcolm Morgan said: "We have one of the strictest drinking water safety regimes in the world, and the tens of millions of people who drink tap water every day are reaping the benefits."
He added: "Fresh water is on tap every moment and is tremendous value for money."
The Inspectorate's 14th annual report, published today, reveals that 99.88% of 2.9 million tests carried out in England in 2003 met all the national and EU drinking water standards. The number of tests failing to meet standards was only 3,418, down from more than 25,000 in 1994.
Typical problems include the supply of discoloured water or contamination.
A public meeting organised by WaterVoice Yorkshire to discuss the proposed bill increases is being held next Monday at 10.30am in the Holiday Inn, Queen's Drive, Wakefield.
Chairman Moham- med Ajeeb said: "We think that some customers will have difficulty in meeting these increases."
He invited all water consumers to attend the meeting.
