Compare business water suppliers in Stirling

Stirling University Innovation Park was established in 1986 and now has more than 60 businesses in about 109,000 square feet of offices and labs. On parks like this, one Scottish Water connection often serves several tenants. The landlord or a facilities company holds the account with a licensed provider and recharges the occupiers.

That’s a normal arrangement, but the recharge is only as fair as the method behind it. A lab running glasswashers and a purified water plant uses far more than a small consultancy along the corridor, and a floor-area split leaves lighter users carrying part of the heavier user’s cost. Sub-meters fix most of it.

Drainage adds a layer. Property and roads drainage are charged on rateable value, and if you want Scottish Water to review whether a site’s surface water reaches a public sewer, its guidance says the drainage plans need to cover the landlord’s wider property, not just your unit. Our Scottish drainage charges guide explains the review.

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

A landlord pays about £8,000 a year in wholesale water and waste water for a four-tenant building and splits it equally, £2,000 each. A sub-meter then shows one lab tenant uses 60% of the volume. Recharged by use, the lab’s share becomes about £4,800 and the other three pay roughly £1,070 each. Scottish Water’s 8.67% average rise for 2026/27 applies to the total whichever split is used, so the method matters more to each tenant than the headline increase.

Charities and sports clubs in and around Stirling may be able to cut or remove their water and sewerage charges through a Scottish Government exemption scheme. It’s open to charities registered with OSCR and community amateur sports clubs registered with HMRC.

Some premises are excluded even when income qualifies. They include premises with a permanent alcohol licence, charity shops and other premises used to sell goods, and cafés open to the public to raise income, though volunteer canteens don’t count as public cafés. Councils and their arm’s-length bodies are excluded too.

The scheme runs from April to March and you reapply every year through your licensed provider. The deadline for 2026/27 is 31 March 2027, and an approved application applies from 1 April 2026, with the provider refunding any overpayment. The cost is spread across other business customers through a 1.5% addition to their charges. Full details are on mygov.scot.

Stirling Castle, cared for by Historic Environment Scotland, has its own shops and cafés, and the streets below it hold the cafés, restaurants and hotels serving its visitors. A café’s bill is driven by dishwashers, coffee machines and customer toilets, so volume tends to lead. A small office leans more on fixed and drainage charges.

The University of Stirling’s sports facilities include a swimming pool, tennis courts and sports halls, and the university says they were ranked first in the UK in the International Student Barometer 2024. Pools need regular topping up and backwashing, so accurate reads and quick leak detection pay off for any leisure operator. See our gyms and leisure page.

On water resources, SEPA had the Firth of Forth at Moderate Scarcity in August 2026 and at Alert in its 15 October report. Its restrictions apply to abstraction licences rather than mains customers, but a dry year is a sensible time to read the meter after closing and again before opening. Our Scottish business water tariffs guide covers how each charge is worked out.