Water users will have to dig deeper into their pockets with water rates set to soar. 

They’ll leap by nearly 9 per cent from next month after Barwon Water was given the go ahead by the Essential Services Commission.

But it’s also been given approval to lift rates by an additional 3 per cent, to help pay for the Geelong to Melbourne pipeline.

All up it will mean the average Geelong household will face increases of around $100.

The water authority says it'll be spending over 160-MILLION dollars on capital works over the next 12-months..

And it says it’s hoping to keep further increases over the next 5 years to around 1 per cent.