Suffolk County homeowners could be seeing higher prices for water.

Customers of the Suffolk County Water face a 4.7% increase in rates and service changes starting June 1.

Experts say this could force residents to be more cautious about how much water they use.

"It forces us to conserve, which by the way, is not a bad thing to do," says Dr. Martin Melkonian, professor of economics at Hofstra University. "Water is a scarce resource. We shouldn't waste it."

A report from JD Power Consumer research firm says to expect an average customer to see an overall bill increase of $1.73 a month

The rate hike is a jump from 2021 when prices saw a 4% increase.

The Suffolk County Water Authority released this statement to News 12: "We raised rates by just enough to make sure we can continue to fulfill our mission of always providing high quality drinking water to our customers."

Long Islanders tell News 12 they are not happy to see their rates go higher.

"Water is, we've taken, it's regarded as a staple," says James Wyckoff, of Huntington. "Can't do without it. So, I don't like to see those things go up."

The report also mentions that customer satisfaction with Suffolk County Water Authority continues to be low, finishing with the third lowest score out of the nine large northeast companies it competes with.