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Water consultants H20 Building Services ask “Are your waste water charges correct”?
Probably not! and remember waste water charges are at least 3 x more than water charges per cubic metre in some water company areas.
For instance, 1,000 cubic metres of water in does not always equate to 1,000 cubic metres of waste water out says Graham Mann, Senior Partner at H20 Building Services, so how are customers charged for waste water?
All based on assumptions or estimates with water companies charging based on percentages, for example: –
Anglian Water region (now Wave) – waste charged at 90 percent of water out discharged to sewer.
Severn Trent Water region (Now Water Plus) – waste charged at 100 percent of water out discharged to sewer
Scottish Water region – waste charged at 95 percent of water out discharged to sewer.
Northumbrian Water region (now Wave) – waste charged at 100 percent of water out discharged to sewer.
United Utilities region (now Water Plus) – waste charged at 100 percent of water out discharged to sewer.
South Staffordshire region – waste charged at 100 percent of water out discharged to sewer.
Yorkshire Water region – waste charges at 95 percent of water out discharged to sewer.
Thames Water region (billed by Castle Water) – waste charged at 100 percent of water out discharged to sewer.
Southern Water region (billed by Business Stream) – waste charged at 100 percent of water discharged to sewer.
Wessex region (billed by Water2Business) – waste charged at 95 percent of water discharged to sewer
South West Water region – waste charged at 95 percent of water discharged to sewer.
See the picture ?
The water wholesalers make an assumption on average that all of the water that is registered on the water meter returns to the water company sewer and if that is not the case say 10/20 or even 30 percent does not return to sewer and the water wholesaler charge 100 percent then that is effectively overcharging.
Though to be fair to the water industry this is a default position so the customer has to be satisfied that the charges levied are correct.
That is how the water bills system works in the water industry, it is basically up to the customer to ensure the water and waste water bills are correct before payment.
So which type of business’s are at high risk of being overcharged for waste water and trade effluent charges?
Leisure Parks, Theme Parks, Zoo’s, Caravan Parks sites. These categories of business are at high risk of paying for waste water not returned to sewer.
The sites have 100’s if not 1,000’s of underground water connections and therefore water leaks are a huge challenge with water leaks running undetected for months even years.
The water lost runs into the ground and not into the water companies sewers, yet businesses are being charged full waste water charges even though a portion of the waste water is not returning to the sewer.
In some case 30% – What a waste.
Paying for water in that is leaking away into the ground and waste out not returning to sewer is a double whammy.
There are 1,000’s of businesses in all areas of industry manufacturing, production, pool and leisure complex’s and hotels where the waste discharged out to to sewer is not measured and the customers are paying for waste water based on estimated discharges.
A typical case study where accurate measuring of waste waste discharged has produced significant savings. This site achieved savings of 36 percent on previous waste water charges.
If you are interested in reducing your water water charges call us on 0845 658 0948 or email us at info@h2obuildingservices.co.uk.
Remember waste water charges are often 3 times or more per cubic metre than water in
