The government isn’t introducing a £15 monthly ‘clean water levy’ for all UK households

Videos claiming that from 1 October the government will introduce a £15 monthly “clean water levy” for every household in the UK have been widely shared on social media.

But no such policy has been announced, and a government spokesperson told Full Fact the claim is “completely false”.

The videos, which have been shared on Facebook and TikTok, feature audio that sounds like the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer. The longer TikTok version says the new fee is for “infrastructure upgrades”.

There are clear signs that the audio in these clips of the Prime Minister is not genuine, however.

When Mr Starmer is shown speaking in front of a wood panelled wall at the start of the clip, the audio does not match his lip movements, and the footage actually appears to be from an unrelated speech he gave on controls on immigration in May 2025.

The cadence of the audio throughout the clip is also extremely even and the intonation sounds stiff and unnatural, which suggests it is AI-generated—although we can’t rule out it having been faked in another way, for example by using an impersonator. You can read more about how to spot AI audio, and the challenges of doing this, in our guide.

Another clue that the audio isn’t genuine is that it is unlikely that Mr Starmer would critique his own policy while announcing it, as he appears to in the video with phrases like “is it really about improving our water systems, or is it just another burden on families already stretched thin?”

There have been reports of water firms planning to trial the use of surge prices during heatwaves, and water bills generally go up each year in April. The industry regulator, Ofwat, also said rising prices in 2025 were to help pay for supply upgrades and to reduce sewage discharges. However, there is no such thing as a £15 monthly “clean water levy”.

This is not the first time we’ve seen videos sharing misinformation about new policies or rules. For example, we’ve recently seen false claims that Mr Starmer has announced a 32-hour working week from 2026, and that the government must be notified about cash withdrawals over a certain amount.

A recent Full Fact investigation found at least 14 TikTok accounts had been involved in sharing such videos. After we contacted the social media platform, it told us that all 14 of the accounts we’d identified had been banned for breaching its rules which do not allow “misinformation that could cause significant harm to individuals or society”. However, we’ve continued to see similar claims spread on social media via other accounts.

It’s important to consider whether information you see on social media comes from a trustworthy and verifiable source before sharing it. Our toolkit provides some advice about how to do this.