Do you know, down to the penny, what your water bill is really worth? Many businesses shy away from inspecting water bills because it is seen as tedious and time-consuming. Looking at a bill can sometimes feel like trying to unjumble a puzzle with what everything represents.
Water bills are surprisingly easy to bring down if you know what to look for. Castle Water, one of the leading business water suppliers in England, offers businesses across the country the chance to get a better deal on their bills; primarily by helping business owners know accurately what every drop accounts for.
Just look at these tips they have on how businesses across England should be saving on water bills. It all starts with knowing how your water ended up coming out of the tap.
Understand your supply
This first point isn’t necessarily a suggestion to follow the path your pipes take from the taps all the way through the building and down the street, but more specifically about water knowledge.
It’s safe to say that most of us will take water for granted, and when we’re looking at the water supply in work, most staff won’t even give a second thought to how much water they’re using.
Empower those in your company with a little water knowledge and ask your supplier if they can provide literature or display materials on how to act efficiently around water. Even the smallest impact of getting people to run taps for shorter periods and use less water when working will bring bills down little by little.
Understand your tariff
This point works best when we think about businesses which operate in multiple locations. Let’s say you have a café in London and another in Manchester. Both sell the same amount of coffee and use the same amount of water every day.
The chances are that the Manchester location will always pay less on water bills because of the tariff it is under. While there is a national responsibility to deliver water to homes and businesses, the market is regionalised, and water companies (your supplier) have to base prices off that. So even though you could have the same water provider in different cities, the price you pay won’t be the same.
I’d also recommend anyone running businesses across multiple locations to research consolidated billing.
Understand what you’re paying for
Every time you submit your meter reading and get your water bill in the post, do you know what that charge includes? Your bill isn’t just made up of the number on the meter. Your provider will have additional services on offer you should be making use of.
This can include the likes of leak detection, checking the water supply and possibly helping with internal system problems. I recommend visiting your supplier’s website or calling them up to ask what additional services your bill covers.
You want to make the most out of what they offer, and any additional help can again help you save in the long-term.
Understand your wastewater
This last point is specifically for businesses which are billed for their level of wastewater. Any water which has to go in the sewers is something you’ll be charged for. For many businesses, the figure can sometimes feel like it is plucked out of thin air. You’ll want to phone your provider and ask why they charge wastewater at the rate they do.
In some cases, the figure is based on previous charges from a former tenant in the same property. This is ok when your business is in the same industry but differs wildly when there’s no correlation (an example being an old warehouse or factory turned into offices).
Ask your supplier (it is their responsibility to help) to check your wastewater usage and see if you can get the estimated figure brought down.
Now get to saving!
I hope you found this short post informative and now have some practical ideas you can use to save on water bills.
