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Business Water for Restaurants
We know that as a restaurant, you rely on water for nearly every aspect of your operations. From food preparation and cooking to dishwashing, cleaning, toilets, and front-of-house duties, water plays a central role in maintaining hygiene, delivering a smooth service, and keeping customers happy. With high footfall and long hours, your water usage, and therefore your water bills, can be substantial.
Whether you manage a small independent café, a busy high-street restaurant, or a multi-site chain, understanding how your water charges work is key to keeping costs under control. This guide explores how restaurant water bills are calculated, why hospitality businesses often pay more, and how you can run a more efficient and cost-friendly operation.
The Business Watershop can help you save money when you use our tool to compare business water rates.
How restaurant water rates work
Your restaurant’s water bill includes volumetric and standing charges. Volumetric charges relate to the amount of water used in the kitchen, bar, toilets, dishwashers, and cleaning routines. Restaurants often use many hundreds, even thousands, of cubic metres each year, especially those with large kitchens, high customer turnover, or extended operating hours.
To give a simple example, if your restaurant uses 800 m³ per year at £1.25 per m³, you’re already facing £1,000 in volumetric charges. Add wastewater costs, which apply to almost all water used, and total usage-related charges climb even higher.
Standing charges are the fixed part of your bill, covering the supply network, drainage, meter servicing, and administration. While predictable, they still contribute meaningfully to your yearly costs.
Why restaurants often face high water bills
Restaurants naturally consume more water than many commercial businesses. Large volumes of water go into food prep, cooking, boiling, steaming, and rinsing. Dishwashers can run continuously during service. Toilets experience heavy use due to customer traffic. Cleaning is constant, from kitchen surfaces to dining areas to bar counters.
In many restaurants, small inefficiencies accumulate over time. A leaky pre-rinse spray, a tap left running for convenience during service, or a dishwasher operating without a full load – these habits can add hundreds of pounds to your annual water bill. If your equipment is older or not well-maintained, water wastage becomes even more likely.
Reducing water consumption in your restaurant
There are several straightforward ways restaurants can lower their water usage without compromising on quality or hygiene. Start by looking at your kitchen equipment. Many older dishwashers and glasswashers use significantly more water than more efficient, modern models. Newer appliances can clean more thoroughly while using fewer litres per cycle.
Training staff to shut off taps between tasks, fill sinks only when necessary, and run dishwashers with full loads can drastically cut waste. Pre-rinse spray guns, for instance, are one of the biggest culprits for high water usage; replacing them with efficient models can pay for itself quickly.
Front-of-house areas also matter. Upgrading toilets to dual-flush systems and fitting low-flow taps in customer washrooms can reduce usage significantly. Small changes in daily routines, such as how often floors are washed or how staff refill water jugs, add up over months.
Smart meters can also help restaurant managers keep a close eye on water use. If consumption spikes unexpectedly overnight, it may indicate a leak or equipment fault. Early detection prevents costly surprises.
Switching water suppliers for better savings
With deregulation allowing businesses in England and Scotland to choose their water retailer, restaurants now have the option to switch to a supplier that offers better rates or service. Many hospitality businesses are still paying default tariffs simply because they’ve never taken advantage of this freedom.
Switching suppliers can reduce both unit rates and standing charges. Some suppliers specialise in serving restaurants, offering clearer billing options, personalised support, and practical advice on reducing consumption. At The Business Watershop, we compare suppliers across the market to help you find one that aligns with your restaurant’s size, usage, and opening hours.
Start saving today
From high usage in the kitchen to heavy footfall from customers, restaurants face more water-related challenges than most businesses. But with the right supplier and a careful approach to consumption, your water bills can be brought under control.
Begin by comparing business water suppliers today and see how much your restaurant can save.
