What do the changes to the abstraction charges mean for your business

The Environment Agency (EA) has just introduced changes to abstraction charges. The EA hopes the new charges will help to protect the environment as well as England’s long-term water supply. The EA estimates that there will be an increased demand for an additional 3.4 billion litres of water a day in England alone by 2050 - an increase of 23% on today’s numbers.

The income from the new charges - the first rise in a decade - will help the EA to invest in providing new water infrastructure, digitising the licensing system, and protecting and enhancing important habitats such as chalk streams.

The additional cost of abstraction will result in inevitable water price increases for commercial as well as domestic users.

At a time when all utility prices are rising, you will obviously be concerned about the effect of the price increases on your business. However, there are steps you can take to help you use your business water much more efficiently and save money in the process. Indeed, it could well be that the investment you need to make now could pay for itself within a year in terms of decreased water bills.

Water efficiency for business

It stands to reason that the less water you use, the cheaper it will be for your business. You will not only be abstracting less from the natural environment, but because it requires power to treat water and to pump it to where it’s needed, you will also decrease your carbon and water footprint. And this is something well worth shouting about on your company’s social media channels!

How you can become more water efficient depends  on the size and activity of your business. If you are a large business water user, a good starting point would be to organise a water efficiency audit. Experts will undertake a detailed study of your current water use and recommend the best water-saving measures to implement.

Water efficiency measures could be as simple as educating staff on the need to turn taps off when they’re not using them, or installing cheap water-saving devices in your toilet cisterns. Significant savings can be achieved with a bigger investment, from installing automatic flushes in your toilets and urinals to diverting rainwater and grey water from your sinks, showers, dishwashers, etc. to be used to flush toilets or wash your fleet of vehicles. Find out more about water efficiency by downloading our free Water Efficiency Guide.

You can learn more about our water efficiency audits as well as our other services, such as business water services & wastewater management. Contact us or get an instant quote today.

Identify and repair leaks

If one of the underground pipes on your property has a leak, you could be losing thousands of pounds a year by paying for water you’re not using. This also means more water is being abstracted and treated than needs to be. A great way of identifying an unseen leak is to keep an eye on your water usage - by regularly checking your water meter, you will understand what your normal usage is. If there is an unexplained rise in metered water, it is usually indicative of a leak. You could also consider installing an Automatic Meter Reader (AMR) to take control of your water consumption and identify leaks early.

We can help you track down the source of the leak and fix it to help you waste as little water as possible. This is how we saved Swindon Borough Council an estimated £250,000 a year in bills alone, and millions of litres of unnecessary water waste.

Save money by switching your water retailer

The deregulation of the water market has enabled businesses and public service institutions to switch business water supplier and make immediate cost savings. We are the UK's largest independent water retailer and have more than 10,000 five-star Trustpilot reviews.

By switching to Castle Water, you will save up to 20% on your annual water bills, which could lead to substantial savings before starting to reduce your business water usage.