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How Do I Know If My Business Water Bill Is Too High?

Until you have a good understanding of your expected costs, it can be difficult to assess whether your business water bill is too high.

Understanding your water usage

The most effective way to assess your water usage is by installing a water meter. It may be the case that your business premises already has a water meter installed. Without a water meter, you will be charged on an unmeasured tariff or an assessed tariff, set by your Wholesaler.

On an unmeasured tariff your charges are based on the Rateable Value associated with the premises you occupy. On an assessed tariff your charges are based on an annual estimate of your water consumption, set by the Wholesaler using what they know about your business activities and the use of water at the premises. If a meter cannot be fitted, let you should tell your water retailer about any significant changes to your business activities, number of employees, and hours of business. Your retailer will share this information with the Wholesaler and ask them to review your estimated annual water consumption, or to move you from an unmeasured to an assessed tariff if necessary.

How to save money on your water bill

Submitting regular meter readings will help to keep your bills are up-to-date to ensure you only pay for the water you use.

Taking regular meter readings will help you to track and find ways to lower overall water consumption to ultimately reduce costs and improve sustainability. Read our top tips for reading your meter here.

business water meter

How to submit a meter reading

The easiest way to stay on top of your usage is to regularly submit meter readings. We make it easy to submit meter readings online so you can ensure your bills stay up-to-date and you only pay for what you use. Every time a Castle Water customer submits a meter reading, we donate £1 to the Save the Children Emergency Fund – so you’ll be saving money at the same time as contributing to the well-being of children around the world.

How to use your water meter to save money

As soon as you understand your business water usage, you can use your water meter readings to help you assess the success of water efficiency implementations.

We give free, practical advice to help our customers use less water to become more sustainable and reduce costs. Use our free online resources to engage with your staff and encourage cultural changes that result in less water being used. Our Water Efficiency Guide is packed with easy and practical tips to help your business save water and money.

Even a small change will make a big difference. For example, putting a simple water-saving device like a ‘Hippo’ in each toilet tank could save three litres for every flush – depending on how large your company is, that could add up to a huge difference in your company’s daily water usage.

In fact, with a full range of water efficiencies implemented, your business could potentially reduce water usage by 50%, which will have a significant impact on reducing your annual water bill.

Use your water meter to detect leaks

Installing a water meter can result in significant savings by helping you detect leaks. By understanding your businesses water usage, you’ll quickly pick up on a surge in your meter reading. If there is no business-related reason to explain the rise in use, then it is likely there’s a hidden leak on your premises.

Leaks can go undetected for a long time, potentially wasting precious water and costing your business thousands, as well as risking a huge amount of damage to your building and infrastructure. This damage will not only be costly to repair but could also affect your trading and operations while repairs are being carried out.

Regular meter readings can highlight irregular spikes in water usage, which could indicate a leak. Early leak detection is crucial to finding and fixing a leak, reducing physical damage and any costs incurred.

Get more advice about your water meter from our Castle Water Expert, here.

Automatic Meter Reading

Many of our high consumption customers, including large single and multi-site businesses, could benefit from installing Automatic Meter Reading (AMR).

AMR is a smart meter that’s attached to your existing water meter. It regularly submits accurate water meter readings, keeping your bills up-to-date and removing the task of manual readings. The meter also collects data about your water consumption patterns that you can easily track through your online portal, giving you the power to start making major savings, improve water efficiency and sustainability. Find out how Swindon Borough Council used AMR to save £250,000 in water charges in one year alone.

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