Excellent 5* RatingHow to lower your business water bill
A water bill has more give in it than most businesses expect. A few of the savings are quick, others take some digging, and most sites can reduce their bills. Here’s where to look.
A water bill looks like a fixed cost, so most businesses pay it and move on. It’s rarely as fixed as it looks. Across the contract you’re on, the charges tucked inside it, and the water you actually use, there’s usually a few hundred to a few thousand pounds a year to save. If you only change one thing, start with the contract, because it’s quick and it shifts the biggest number.
Quick snapshot
- Moving off a deemed or default rate is normally the biggest single saving.
- Charges like surface water drainage can be reclaimed if they don’t apply to your site.
- Old bills carry errors, estimates and overcharges worth reclaiming.
- Using less water trims both the supply and the wastewater side of the bill.
Get onto a better contract
This is usually the big one. If you signed up years ago, or you’ve quietly rolled onto a deemed rate since your last contract ended, you’re almost certainly paying over the odds. A deemed rate is the default a retailer drops you onto when there’s no contract in place, and it’s rarely the keenest one going. Comparing retailers and moving is the fastest way to pull the unit rate down.
Our guide on how to switch business water supplier walks through the move step by step, and what a deemed tariff is helps you work out which rate you’re sitting on right now.
Claim back surface water drainage you don’t owe
This one catches a lot of businesses out. A meaningful slice of the bill can be surface water drainage, the charge for rainwater running off your roof and yard into the public sewer. If your site actually drains to a soakaway, a ditch or a watercourse instead, you’ve been paying for something you don’t use, and you can usually claim it back across several years.
Our explainer on surface water drainage covers who qualifies, how to prove where your rainwater goes, and how the rebate is worked out.
Audit your bill for overcharges
Bills carry mistakes more often than you’d hope. A meter logged at the wrong size, a tariff that doesn’t fit the site, a charge that should have dropped off years ago and never did. A business water audit goes back through your historic bills and reclaims what you’ve overpaid. There are also a few signs you’re being overcharged you can check yourself before you pick up the phone.
Check your wastewater and return to sewer
Wastewater is usually billed as a percentage of the clean water you take in, on the assumption every drop goes back down the drain. Plenty of businesses don’t work like that. If water ends up in a product, soaks into the ground, or evaporates off a process, a return to sewer allowance can bring that part of the bill down.
It’s worth understanding how your wastewater is calculated, and reading up on the return to sewer allowance and trade effluent if you discharge anything beyond ordinary wastewater.
Find and fix leaks
A leak you can’t see is the quietest way to overpay. It rarely shows up as a dramatic jump, more a bill that creeps up and then just stays there. Catching one early, and claiming a leak allowance where the rules allow, pulls it back down. Here’s how to find out if you have a leak without digging up the car park.
Keep your meter reads accurate
If your reads are estimated, your bill is guesswork, and guesswork has a habit of landing in the supplier’s favour. A meter that’s awkward to reach often goes unread for months on end. Sending in your own readings keeps the bill tied to what you’ve genuinely used. It’s worth checking whether your reads are estimated and what to do if you can’t find your meter.
Cut the water you use
Every cubic metre you don’t use comes off the bill twice, once on the water you buy and again on the wastewater charged on top. You don’t need a refit to make a dent. Fixing dripping taps, swapping in efficient fittings, and tightening up a few daily habits adds up over a year, especially on a busy site.
Our guide to water efficiency and these practical water reduction goals are sensible places to begin.
Query a sudden spike
If a bill jumps and nothing’s changed on site, don’t just pay it and move on. A spike usually traces back to an estimated read, a hidden leak or a billing slip, and every one of those is worth sorting before the money leaves your account. Here’s how to dispute a sudden spike.
How much can you actually save?
Honestly, it varies, because it hangs on your contract, your site and how long any overcharging has been running. As a rough feel, getting off a deemed rate and tidying up the charges tends to land in the hundreds to low thousands a year for a typical site. Where there’s a drainage rebate or years of errors sitting behind it, the numbers climb.
To put real figures on it, businesses we’ve worked with have seen a £110,000 refund for a leisure group, £35,000 for an academy and over £320,000 saved for a facilities business. Those are the larger end, and not what an average shop should expect. They show how much can be hiding in a bill that’s never been properly checked.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the quickest way to lower a business water bill?
Comparing retailers and moving off a deemed rate is usually the fastest win, followed by a bill audit to catch overcharges you can claim back. Both can be set in motion in a day.
Can I get money back on past water bills?
Often, yes. Surface water drainage rebates, overcharge audits and leak allowances can all be backdated, commonly up to six years, depending on your wholesaler.
Can I lower my bill if I’m tied into a contract?
Yes. Switching retailer has to wait until your contract ends, but most of the other levers don’t. You can claim a drainage rebate, audit past charges, fix leaks, correct meter reads and cut usage whatever contract you’re on.
How much can a business save on water?
It depends on your contract, your site and any past overcharging. For a typical site it’s often hundreds to low thousands a year, and more where a rebate or years of billing errors are involved.
Do small businesses overpay for water?
Often, yes. Smaller sites are the most likely to be sitting on a deemed rate without realising, and the least likely to have ever had a bill checked, so there’s frequently something to recover.
Does using less water really lower the bill?
Yes. On a metered supply you pay for what you use, and wastewater is usually charged as a share of that, so cutting consumption reduces both parts of the bill.
Who can help me lower my business water bill?
A broker or auditor can compare retailers for you, comb through your historic charges for errors, and handle rebate and allowance claims on your behalf, so you’re not chasing it all yourself.
