Regulators have approved a 26-percent rate increase for customers of the Indianapolis water system, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission announced Wednesday.

The rate is less than the 33.4-percent increase the city's waterworks department requested. In a press release, the IURC said the utility's average customer will pay about $6 more per month.

The increase is on top of a 10.8 percent emergency rate increase that the IURC approved in mid-2009.

Indianapolis officials say they need the new money for about $111 million in infrastructure projects and upgrades, and to provide more financial stability.

“More than 75 percent of this increase is attributable to capital expenditures, specifically investments that will assure the integrity of the system and the quality of the water now and for future generations,” said IURC Commissioner Larry Landis in a written statement.

Landis said one out of every four dollars being spent on the capital projects are needed for the city to comply with "environmental mandates handed down by the federal government.”