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Business water rates have increased by an average of 14.4% since the first of April 2023.
You can expect to pay the same prices on average if your business water usage is regular. However, you can find much cheaper water rates by comparing utility companies’ business water rates.
Let’s take a look at how business water rates are calculated.
How Are Water Rates Calculated
There are various factors that contribute to how business water rates are calculated. These are all dependent on your business property size and where you are located.
Business water rates include the following.
Potable Water Standing Charges
This is a standard daily fee that is charged to your business whether your business uses water or not. This charge is simply to maintain the external pipes and the water pumping system that is used to pump water to your business.
The potable water standing charge depends on the region your business is in and the size of the clean water pipe that is connected to your property.
Wastewater Standing Charges
The wastewater standing charges are similar to the potable water standing charge. Also, a fixed daily fee is charged to all properties, even if they do not produce wastewater. This payment is for the maintenance of the sewerage pipes.
Potable Water Metered Rates
The potable water metered rates are dependent on how much clean water is supplied to your business.
In a nutshell, the water rates will be higher the more water your business uses. To calculate your water rates, your water supplier will take regular readings that your water meter does not estimate your business water bill.
The cost is calculated by multiplying the volume of water by a volumetric rate; this is charged for each cubic meter of water that has been supplied to your business.
Wastewater Metered Rates
The same process as with potable metered rates, your business will be charged for every cubic meter of sewerage water that is released into the sewers.
Estimating how much of your business wastewater rates will be calculated by using the water readings of the potable water to get the wastewater costs.
Highways Drainage Rates
Since the UK government pays for the damage done to highways as a result of rainwater, the maintenance of it has been charged to all businesses through the water bill.
The charges are used not only to maintain the damage of the highway but also costs of maintaining the highway drainage network.
However, the upside of this water rate is that it is only charged to properties that are connected to sewers.
Surface Drainage Rates
To have rainwater removed from business property that ends up in the drainage system, a surface drainage rate is charged to businesses.
This charge is used for the maintenance of the drainage system to avoid any flooding of the water network. The bigger the property size, the higher the drainage rate will be.
Foul Sewerage and Trade Effluent
Any other type of liquid that is considered waste that is not surface or domestic sewage is known as Trade Effluent.
These charges can be extremely complex as it depends on how much trade effluent has been released into the water sewerage system.
Other water rates that can be charged to your business include the following:
- Smart Water Meter Charges
This is a separate charge for the installation of a smart water meter on your property.
- Reconnection Charges
If you want to reconnect your business to a water network or switch from an old water network to a different one.
- Meter Installation, repairs and replacement Charges
If there are any faults with your current meter or you need repairs on the pipes, this is an extra charge on your water bill.
- Disconnection Charges
If you decide to disconnect your business water supply from a water network, there is a charge involved in that as well.
- Assessment of Business Water Rates
If you want to find out if you are paying the correct water rates for your business, you can have an assessment done, which will add extra costs to your water bill.
Reason for the Increase in Business Water Rates
There are two main reasons for this, the increase in retail business water rates and the inflation of business water rates.
Since the water network requires electricity to pump the water to their clients, the price of energy has led to an increase in water prices.
How You Can Keep Your Water Bills Low
To be able to cut your business water bills by at least half, there are some ways you can cut costs and stay ahead of your water bills.
Here are a few ways you can incorporate it in saving water.
Fix any water leaks
If there are any leaky pipes or a tap that is dripping. Fixing it will save both on water usage and the cost of water.
Re-use water
Collecting rainwater can be reused and recycled water to flush toilets, water plants and cleaning.
Conduct a water audit
To understand how much water your business uses, you can conduct a water audit. This can help you establish where your business uses the most water.
Switch to water-efficient appliances
Replacing old appliances with much more modern, efficient ones can help save on water usage as water-efficient appliances are designed to only use the required amount of water needed.
Monitor and measure water usage
By installing smart water meters or sub-meters can be used to measure your business water usage and identify any wastage areas.
Implement water management systems
Setting up water management systems can assist with monitoring water usage and controlling continued water usage. You can also use these systems to detect any leaks and highlight any areas of wastage.
Have a water-saving policy in place
By implementing water management systems, you can set water-saving targets for reducing the amount of water that is used throughout the business.
You can also use these water-saving policies to implement guidelines for employees to save water and encourage any incentives for those employees who help reach the desired targets.
Every year in April, the British can expect their water rates to change due to the changes within the water and energy market.
The above-mentioned tips can help you keep your business water bill low and still get you to save water at the same time.
