Water Poverty

In 2020, the water companies supplied water to 2 703 573 customers without a company number, which are households with their own water meter. Customers who face payment difficulties can request a payment plan from the water company. In 2020, 56 852 instalment plans were requested. In case of persistent payment difficulties, the water company can submit an application for limitation or closure to the local advisory committee (LAC). When advising these applications, the LAC may impose a payment plan.The Local Advisory Committee (LAC) drew up 8 848 repayment plans in 2020. 70 flow limits and 0 closures were implemented in 2020 following an LAC opinion for reasons of default. The low number of limits and the sharp decrease (to 0) in the number of closures were at least partly caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures announced by the Flemish government