You might be aware that in 2017, the water market will deregulate. This means that when water deregulation occurs, over 1.2 million eligible non-household customers will be able to choose their supplier of water and wastewater; instead of having their supplier designated dependent on location.
The flexible billing system will allow your business to procure a flexible contract which will best fit your business. But, just like our blog about reducing your energy consumption to save on your energy bill, going into 2017, you might want to look at reducing your water consumption.
Review, Audit, Procure, Manage.
There are four key steps to reducing your water bills;
Review:
Instead of simply glancing at your water bill the next time it falls through your letterbox or gets hidden under paperwork on your desk, take the time to read through it, and make sure you’re aware of all the charges you’re paying. Water companies write thousands of bills every quarter, and so there may be a charge you want to query. If you are being overcharged for you water, you can go back 6 years to claim money back; which can add up to a tidy sum. Though this might be a tedious process, and gas and power costs usually take president when looking at cutting costs solely because they are usually a higher cost than water, it’s important you’re also aware of your water and wastewater costs.
Audit:
Businesses can usually save around 30% in water charges following a water audit- and since overcharging does occur, refunds anywhere in the realm of £500- £500,000 are possible. It’s in your company’s best interest then, that a water audit is undertaken. An audit will allow you to see if there is any potential savings to be made; an expert audit will be reliable, taking into account the size of site, type of business and estimated use, matching this to your water bill to see if it’s an accurate rate.
It’s not just about the money; at a time where the environment is moving up on many business’ priority list, and the damage they could be causing, considering ways to improve their environmental performance should always be taken into account.
When auditing a business’ water consumption, we will take into account their water devices and infrastructure as well as analysis of the drainage that is in place in the property, including trade-effluent discharge. This audit will also ensure you have the correct meter size for your business and that you’re paying the correct amount for your charges.
One of these charges is for the disposal and treatment of wastewater. This is split into two areas:
- A standing charge. This is fixed and is based on your water supply pipe size
- Variable charge. This is based off the volume of water you use. It’s usually assumed that 95% of supplied water is returned to the sewerage system.
To discover more about how to save money on your water bill, see our last water deregulation blog.
Procure:
We’ve focused in past blogs about how you can save money due to deregulation however, it’s worth mentioning how by changing your supplier in April next year really can save you money. Using information gathered from water companies and businesses, it is expected that users can save 12% on their water bill due to deregulation. Some businesses stay with their old provider due to either not being aware of the changes, or because they don’t want the aggravation of switching. However, with benefits both in cost and improved customer service, simply know your details and be aware of your business needs to benefit from deregulation. We’d love to discuss the process with you further if you’re eligible for switching suppliers to see how we can help and make the process easier for you whilst saving your business money!
Manage:
Whilst some leaks are undetected and will show up via a large increase in your water bill from one month to another, others will be more obvious with a visibly leaking pipe. If you leave a leak, not only will it push the price of your water bill up (due to an increase waste of water) but it could also lead to your business being interrupted if the pipe bursts.
Additionally, ageing infrastructure can make your business inefficient; as well as possible contamination, it’s reported by the EPA that many cities lose between 10-30% of their water supply due to leaks. Due to leaky pipes, some systems lose 60% of water because of these leaky pipes. Since your business will be paying for this lost water regardless if it’s wasted or not, it’s well worth fixing a pipe or two! Most leakage is found through the joints in pipes; through walls or connections.