Business Water Rates

Business Water Rates 2026/27

Business water bills can be confusing, with charges often spread across multiple pages and calculated in ways that are not always easy to follow. This guide breaks down how business water rates work and explains how to make savings.

We start with a summary of default business water rates that apply to most businesses from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027:

English and Welsh business water rates 2026/27

The following table is a summary of the default water rates that apply for small commercial properties with a water meter, consuming less than 500m³ each year:

Source: Published scheme of charges for each business water supplier

Over 80% of businesses in England are on the default water rates shown above, which often means paying more than necessary. Find a cheaper fixed-rate contract with AquaSwitch. Find out how much you can save by entering a few simple details above.

Scottish business water rates 2026/27

The following summarises the default water rates applying to small commercial properties in Scotland with a standard (20mm or smaller) water supply pipe.

Source: Published scheme of charges: Business Stream

Business water rates calculator

Do you want to know how much your business water bill will be this year? Our in-house water experts have built Britain’s first business water calculator.

By answering a few simple questions, our calculator will provide an estimate of your annual water bill based on your consumption and the regional default business water rates for small businesses.

💡Our business water rates calculator will be updated on 1 April 2026, for 2026/27 rates.

What are default business water rates?

The estimates from our business water rates calculator are based on the published default business water rates. These rates are paid by 80% of all small businesses that have not switched water suppliers.

The good news is that business water suppliers now offer cheaper fixed-term rates. Visit our business water comparison page and discover how much your business can save today.

How does the calculator work?

Our business water rates calculator uses published regional default business water rates.

All default business water suppliers publish their scheme of charges on their websites, but typically hide this in a long PDF document on their website.

Our experts have worked through hundreds of pages of these documents to extract the relevant rates for small businesses across every region, bringing them together in one easy-to-use calculator.

Calculator assumptions and limitations

• Water meter: We assume that your business has a water meter.
• Water consumption: We assume your business consumes less than 500 cubic metres of water annually (approximately the consumption of four households).
• Pipe diameter: We assume the water pipe diameter entering your property is between 12-15mm, which is standard for smaller properties.
• Regional exceptions: Some regions have specific areas adhering to distinct rules we haven’t covered. Chester, Wrexham, and York Water Works are notable examples.
• Drainage charges: In certain regions, highway and surface drainage charges vary based on property size. We’ve used a standard of 100 square metres.
• Trade Effluent: We’ve assumed your property doesn’t produce any trade effluent.
• Tariff type: We’ve relied on published default rates for business water. If you’re on a fixed contract, your rates will differ.
• Tariff classification: The calculator uses non-household tariffs. Domestic water bills differ in calculation and are billed directly by the local water company.

How do business water rates work?

Any business using one or more of the following services pays commercial water rates. Click on the links to understand how each element of business water rates works.

• Using potable water from the mains connections
• Disposing of wastewater into the sewers
• Drainage of rainwater from your property
• Drainage of rainwater from the road outside your property
• Disposing of trade effluent into the sewers

Water standing charge

The business water standing charge is a fixed daily fee charged, regardless of whether your business uses any water.

The fixed charge is applied to all properties with a business water connection to maintain the external pipes and pumping systems that supply water.

The water standing charge is calculated on a bill as follows:

Water metered rates

Metered water rates depend on the amount of potable water supplied to your business property.

The water meter at your property measures the volume of water that passes through the pipe into your property.

The metered water rates on a bill will use water meter readings to charge you as follows:

Wastewater standing charges

Wastewater is any water that leaves your property into the sewage system.

The standing wastewater charge is another fixed daily charge levied on all properties regardless of whether the property produces any wastewater. The charge pays for the maintenance of the sewage system your property uses.

It is calculated on a business water bill as follows:

Wastewater metered rates

Like the water volumetric charge, businesses also pay for every cubic metre of wastewater flowing into the sewers.

Typically business water suppliers assume that all clean water supplied to your business premises eventually ends up in the wastewater system.

The wastewater charge uses meter readings on the potable water pipes to determine the wastewater charges. Here’s how it works on your bill:

Surface drainage rates

Businesses are charged for removing rainwater that falls on their property and goes into the drainage system. It might seem unfair to pay for rainwater, but keeping the drainage system working well is crucial to prevent flooding and is an essential role of water companies.

How much you pay for surface water drainage depends on where your business is and how big your property is. In some regions, the surface drainage charge is incorporated into the wastewater standing charge.

If your business has a high surface water drainage charge, we recommend using our guide to the surface drainage charge to check you are being billed correctly.

Highways drainage rates

Rainwater landing on public roads and footpaths also gets funnelled into the drainage system. Water suppliers charge highway drainage rates to cover the costs of maintaining the highway drainage network.

Everyone uses public roads, but the government chooses to pay for the drainage system maintenance through water bills. If a property is not connected to the sewers, it should not be charged a highway drainage charge.

Trade effluent

Trade effluent is any liquid waste other than surface water and domestic sewage discharged by a business. An example is waste products from food production. The vast majority of companies do not produce trade effluent and will, therefore, not be charged for this.

Trade effluent charges are highly complex and dependent upon the nature of the effluent. Our comprehensive guide to trade effluent charges helps explain the subject.

Miscellaneous business water rates

Businesses can face a number of miscellaneous additional charges from their water network provider. The main categories of charge are as follows:

• Assessment of business water rates – You can request that your local water company review your current water rates for accuracy with a site visit. Your regional water wholesaler will look to cover the costs of this assessment.
• Disconnection charges – If you request that your property be disconnected from the water network, or your supplier disconnects your business due to non-payment of bills, they will charge for the required work.
• Reconnection charges – Equally, when you request for your business to be reconnected to the water network, your local water company will charge for the physical act of reconnecting your supply to the water network.
• Meter installation, repair or replacement charges – Most water companies will pass on costs associated with physical work requested regarding the water meter at your business premises.
• Smart water meter charges – Some water suppliers offer smart water meters as a separately charged add-on that gives you a real-time measurement of water consumption.

Unmeasured business water rates

Most commercial properties in Britain have a water meter that measures the volume of mains potable water consumed over time, which is used to calculate water bills.

However, for properties without a water meter, business water rates use one of the following two alternative methods for charging customers:

Using Rateable Value

The most common approach to charging business water rates to properties without a water meter uses Rateable Value instead of measured consumption to calculate volumetric water charges.

The Rateable Value is the metric used to calculate business rates that each commercial property pays to the local council.

Rateable Value water charges are calculated as follows:

Assessed rates

In an assessed tariff, the water consumption is estimated by your business water supplier instead of being measured.

The consumption estimate is made based on the size of your property and what it is being used for.

Business water rates units of measurements

The business water rates a property pays depend upon the following measured inputs that will be used to calculate the amount due in on your water bill:

• Cubic meter (m³) – A measure of the volume of water consumed by a property, as measured by a water meter.
• RSA (%) – The ratio used to calculate the volume of wastewater disposed of based upon the volume of clean water consumed. The RSA is usually between 90 and 100%.
• Surface area (m²) – The area that a business property encompasses, a measure used to calculate the surface drainage charge.
• Meter size (mm) – The width of the clean water pipe entering your water meter. Used to assess standing water charges.

Business water rates FAQs

Here are the answers to frequently asked questions on business water prices.

Do businesses pay water rates?

Yes, businesses will pay water rates when they have any property connected to British water infrastructure. That can be any of the following (and typically all of them):

• Potable water pipes coming into the property
• Sewage pipes going away from the property
• Rainwater drains on your property

The business water rates your business pays depend on your region and contract with your business water supplier.

How often do business water rates change?

Once a year. Business water rates change every year on the 1st of April. To view the latest business water rates in your area, you can review our tables above for English business water rates and Scottish business water rates.

How much are business water rates in my region?

Business water rates vary from region to region. The disparity arises because the cost of maintaining the regional water network is higher in certain parts of the country than in others.

As an example, there is less rain in the South West of England, and the region is sparsely populated. So, pipes need to travel long distances between reservoirs and properties, making water supply more expensive.

Find out the precise business water rates in your area using our calculator above.

How much are the average business water rates?

The water rates paid by businesses in Britain depend both on region and the amount of water consumed. 1.2 million English and 0.3 million Scottish properties are registered on the non-household water network.

In 2026, the mean average non-household water rates bill is £2,900 per annum. These average business water rates have increased significantly following price changes in April.

The average figure encompasses millions of small businesses that use only a few cubic meters of water each and the largest industrial users, which spend millions yearly on water.

Do business water rates have VAT?

Most businesses do not pay VAT on water bills. The exception is industries that use large quantities of water as a direct input in their production, the biggest ones being:

• Construction
• Chemical Production
• Food Production
• Mining
• Textile Production

Your business water supplier will automatically assess whether they need to charge your business VAT.

For our in-depth explainer, check out our guide to VAT on business water bills.

Are business water rates cheaper than domestic?

Generally speaking, domestic water rates are cheaper than business water rates because the average household uses less water than the average business. Domestic property water rates are calculated differently from business water rates.

Most homes do not have a water meter installed, so domestic water consumption is assessed rather than measured. Unless you specifically request a water meter for your house, a water supplier will charge your home a fixed cost regardless of how much water you use.

In contrast, most business properties pay water rates based on measurements taken by a water meter.

AquaSwitch completed a one-off study comparing a house and a small business property using the same amount of water. We found that, in this case, a business on the regional out-of-contract tariff will pay an average of 18% more than the household.

How does Ofwat regulate business water rates?

Ofwat carefully regulates water rates to avoid the excessive profitability of any of the companies involved in the supply of water and wastewater services.

Firstly the regional wholesale water rates are carefully controlled such a balance is maintained between:

• Ensuring the wholesaler has sufficient incentive to invest in water infrastructure for the future.
• Ensuring both household and non-household water rates fairly reflect the cost of water and wastewater services to the end-user.
• Ensuring that the wholesaler’s return on investment is fair and is not unduly profitable.
• Ensuring that the wholesaler can meet their legal, social and environmental obligations.

Ofwat then further regulates the business water suppliers by providing an annual price cap which sets a maximum retail fee that can be charged to business customers.

For more information, check out our guide to everything you need to know about Ofwat.

Are business water rates determined by postcode?

Yes, the amount a business pays for water rates depends on where your property is located. England is divided into approximately 20 different wholesale regions, each of which has its own company owning and operating the water infrastructure.

The cost of maintaining the water network in each region is different so business rates also vary from region to region. See our handy guide here to the different regional water rates.

Are small business water rates more expensive than large businesses?

In most regions of England and Scotland, wholesale water companies offer large user tariffs for industrial customers. Large user tariffs generally levy a standing water charge in the tens of thousands but offer a lower volumetric water and wastewater rate than the standard tariffs.

The effect of large user tariffs is to provide a bulk-buy discount to those industries that use significant amounts of water in their production.

💡An alternative structure called the rising block tariff has been proposed for households to encourage efficiency, where unit rates get incrementally more expensive as consumption rises.

How much water does a business use?

Business water rates are calculated on a volumetric basis; the more water a property uses, the higher the charges. Volumetric business water rates are measured in price per cubic meter. The following shows how much water properties are typically consumed:

• The average household: 130 cubic meters
• A small shop: 60 cubic meters
• Office building (per employee): 20 cubic meters

However, some industries use a huge amount of water. Check out our blog post on which industries use the most water.