News
Under the radar – Water charges to increase by up to 100% right now!
By Graham Mann, Water audit expert.
When water audit experts at H²O Building Services request water and waste water bills prior to conducting a water audit very rarely do they include if applicable copy water bills from Canal and Rivers Trust, who are they you may ask?
Does your business have any properties next to a canal?
If you are discharging rainwater that falls onto your property into the canal then your business will be paying for reception and conveyance of all water entering the canal under a licence agreement, if you do not have a licence then you are discharging illegally.
These charges are normally in our experience under the radar, when we ask for copy water bills it is only whilst carrying out the water audit do we note in some instances we identify through site addresses sites next to water ways and put a request into the client for copies of Canal and Rivers Trust invoices and a copy of the licence. The charges levied can be substantial dependant on the discharge licence conditions which are normally based on the discharge pipe size, the larger the pipe diameter and the number of pipes that discharge the higher the charges. Very rarely in our experience do businesses ever include these charges in with a water audit across their portfolio.
We are now discovering that in some instances businesses are paying for the receiving of surface water into the British water way and also paying the water company for the same service as the water company generally include for surface water charges within the overall water bills, the duplication does not get picked up by the consumer and any water company overcharges can amount to many thousands of pounds.
Consumers also need to be aware Canal and Rivers Trust are reviewing their charges and only this week we have a client where British Water Ways are claiming a 100% increase from £2,500 per year to £5,000 per year claiming increased costs on the basis of last years flooding. Obviously the government organisation seeking to double its revenues to cover the costs of government costs of flood defences and other services coming to the aid of flood victims in England and Wales.
See where your money goes click here https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/library/6699.pdf
When carrying out a water audit always include charges from the Canal and Rivers Trust, you may save more than you think.
Useful link www.canalandrivertrust.org.uk