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£13,000 Leak Allowance
For Verulam School

When a series of unexpected increased water bills indicated a leak, and call outs from private contractors were unsuccessful, Verulam School turned to Castle Water for support with leak concerns. Castle Water immediately organised a site visit to fix the unrepaired leak and completed a leak allowance application on the customers behalf. This resulted in Verulam School being granted a full leak allowance by their water network Wholesaler of over £13,600.

At Castle Water, our award-winning service and water efficiency solutions help our UK business customers to use less water and reduce water bills. Last year, we installed 4,500 Automatic Meter Reading devices free of charge saving eligible customers over £2.67 million in installation costs, and up to £9 million per year in potential leakage costs.

An expensive unresolved leak

Verulam School, a state secondary school in St Albans, England, suffered from two on-site leaks at its multi-meter premises. Following a series of increased water bills, and unsuccessful call outs from private contractors who were unable to resolve the leaks, Verulam School approached its business water supplier, Castle Water, to report the rise in billing and leak concerns.

Award-winning customer service and fast leak repair

Castle Water worked quickly with Verulam School to obtain water meter readings, and it became apparent that one of the leaks had not been repaired by the private contractors and was still ongoing. Castle Water’s immediately organised a site visit to fix the unrepaired leak at Verulam School. Following leak repairs, Castle Water estimate that the volume of water Verulam School has saved from repairing the leak is 15163m³. Whilst the customer water accounts were being investigated for leaks, Castle Water also offered an additional good will gesture to reduce their current payment plan.

Over £13,600 recovered from leak allowance

Castle Water informed Verulam School of their option to apply for a leak allowance to help cover the additional costs of the leak. Previously unaware of the funding, Verulam School asked Castle Water to complete the leak allowance application on their behalf. Castle Water submitted the application to Verulam School’s water network Wholesaler, who supplies the external water infrastructure to the local area. The application was successful and resulted in Verulam School being granted a full leak allowance of £13,629.20.

Kate Locke, Verulam School’s Business Manager, was delighted with the result and said, “I want to thank Castle Water for all your help in guiding us through this process and securing a leak allowance for the school. As you can imagine, the £13,629.20 allowance is a huge amount for a state school, and we are extremely grateful for all your support.”

Installing a new water meter reduces water bill

During a follow up call to discuss Verulam School’s business water accounts and service needs, it was discovered that one of their water accounts was being billed on an unmeasured tariff. Castle Water notified Verulam School of the account and about the value of having a meter installed. Verulam agreed this was the best approach and a new water meter was installed, saving the school further expense. With the new meter installed, Verulam School can now submit monthly water meter readings for all accounts for up-to-date billing and better water consumption tracking. The water consumption tracking will also act as a preventative measure for future leaks.

Click here to learn more about business water services for the education sector.

Speak to our team today by calling 01250 718700 and find out how much you can save on your business water and wastewater bills.

I want to thank Castle Water for all your help in guiding us through this process and securing a leak allowance for the school. As you can imagine, the £13,629.20 allowance is a huge amount for a state school, and we are extremely grateful for all your support.