Compare business water suppliers in Inverness

Scottish policy is for business premises to be metered unless that isn’t practical. On a meter, you pay a fixed annual charge linked to meter size plus a volume charge, so a quiet winter shows up as a smaller volume line. Without one, water and waste water are charged on rateable value, which doesn’t move with occupancy.

Drainage follows rateable value however your water is measured. Property drainage covers rain from your own roofs and car park, and roads drainage covers public roads. A hotel with a big car park and a small café can pay very different drainage amounts while using similar volumes.

Scottish Water’s charges rose by an average of 8.67% for 2026/27. Highland also went through the 2026 revaluation, and 69% of properties in the council area saw their rateable value increase, which lifts anything charged on that value.

Here’s what that means on a bill (illustrative)

Two guesthouses each pay around £3,000 a year in wholesale water and waste water. The unmeasured one pays that in even instalments based on rateable value. The metered one uses three quarters of its annual volume between May and October, so its winter bills shrink while its summer bills grow. Over a year the totals may land close together or far apart, depending on actual use. Ask your provider to compare your real readings against the unmeasured basis before deciding anything.

Our Scottish business water tariffs guide sets out each charge type.

Half an hour from Inverness you’ll find hotels, holiday lets, farms and distilleries drawing water from a spring, borehole or loch. The Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland estimates around 3% of the population uses a private supply, and visitors often meet them in remote holiday accommodation. Supplies serving a commercial activity, such as letting rooms, are classed as regulated supplies.

A site on its own supply isn’t buying clean water from Scottish Water, so a mains water charge for that site needs explaining. Foul drainage is a separate question. If waste water goes to a septic tank or private treatment plant, ask your provider to show what any waste water charge relates to. Some rural premises are connected for one service and not the other.

Farms and crofts taking mains water to field troughs, drinking bowls or outside taps can pay a fixed annual charge for each. Scottish Water’s scheme sets a separate, lower rate for crofts and registered small holdings, so check the account reflects your holding. For surface water questions, see our Scottish drainage charges guide.

City centre hospitality. The Inverness Castle Experience opened in December 2025 after a £35.5 million redevelopment, giving visitors another reason to stay in town. Hotels, restaurants and bars along the river use water heavily for laundry, kitchens and guest bathrooms.

Accommodation across Highland. Highland Council opened a statutory consultation on a tiered visitor levy on 7 September 2026. It’s a separate cost from water, but it has accommodation owners looking hard at fixed overheads.

Inverness Campus. The 215-acre campus is home to around 20 organisations across business, research, academia and healthcare, including a fish health laboratory opened by PHARMAQ Analytiq. Labs bring purified water systems and, sometimes, discharges that need a trade effluent consent.

Distilleries and producers. Whisky making around Inverness, at sites such as Tomatin, uses water for mashing, cooling and cleaning, and process washing water can bring trade effluent charges. Our Scottish manufacturing page covers process water in more depth.

Several sites. Hotel groups, retailers and estates with properties across the Highlands can hold every Scottish Water supply point on one contract with one provider.