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Business water bills include a “your charges in detail” page that calculates your bill but seem to require several PhD’s to understand, and most companies just accept these at face value. Each element of your water bill uses a complicated tariff structure, and errors in these charges are shockingly common.
Many businesses are paying significantly more than they should: the solution – the AquaSwitch water audit. Find out if your business has been overcharged today.
A business water audit is a detailed review of your business’s water usage, water charges, supply, and drainage by inspecting your historical water bills.
Our water experts shall use their knowledge of water regulations to identify instances where your business has been overcharged by reviewing:
Upon conclusion of the review, our experts will contact your supplier to resolve identified issues quickly and efficiently and to request any rebates due back to your business.
The charges that your business receives for its water depend on a number of factors, including:
Each of these factors can be incorrectly applied by your water supplier resulting in overcharging. Our experts have found overpayment of incorrect charges into the hundreds of thousands of pounds. The best way to find out if your business is being overcharged is through a water audit.
The most significant benefit of a water audit is obtaining a historic rebate for overcharging going back up to six years. Our experts have found savings equating to hundreds of thousands of pounds. Any savings identified will also translate into savings your business will benefit from going forwards.
Even if we don’t identify any rebates for your business, you will be comfortabley billed a fair amount for your business water bills.
Our water audit has more benefits, including:
The AquaSwitch water audit is conducted on a No Results, No Fee basis. We are only paid on proven results.
A business water audit is completely free of charge, and if you go ahead with it, there is no obligation to proceed further down the line. If our water experts find and successfully claim rebates back from your supplier, then we shall retain a percentage of the historical rebates.
Our water experts will fund all activities associated with the water audit. We will only invoice your business for a successful water audit when your savings and refunds have been realised.
If no issues are found with your company’s historical billing, there will be absolutely nothing to pay, and you’ll now have the peace of mind that your business is paying the right amount for its water.
Firstly, to proceed with the water audit, you will need to spend £5,000 or more a year on water and wastewater services for the water audit to go ahead.
Before kicking off the process, it is necessary to sign a no-obligation cost control agreement engaging our experts to conduct the water audit and a letter of authority that allows them to liaise with water suppliers on your behalf.
The water audit process is as non-intrusive as possible and proceeds in the following steps:
Our process commences with the initial audit analysis. You will need to provide us with the last 12 months of your business water bills relating to all supply points used by your business.
Once we receive the copies of your water bills from your provider, our water audit expert will perform an initial high-level review by:
Next, we will ask you for permission to allow one of our fully qualified surveyors to visit your site or sites to undertake a survey.
The survey is to ensure that you are paying correctly for a judgemental aspect of your water bill.
All you need to do is provide us with a time, and a date that suits you and one of our water surveyors will be there to undertake the survey for you.
The survey will analyse one or more of the following judgemental areas:
Your appointed project manager for the water audit will collate the results from the survey and analyse these. They will then provide you with a detailed report and feedback outlining any issues. This report will outline the value of any potential historical claims.
After you have read the report, it will be your decision whether you would like us to proceed with making the claims on your behalf.
Your dedicated project manager will submit claims on your behalf and manage the process entirely with your business water supplier and wholesaler. We may need additional information from you during this period to support our rebate claims with your supplier to maximise the amount you can recoup.
The business water suppliers work slowly, meaning the refund claim process can take some time, but your project manager will keep you informed of progress. The claims submitted by our experts are rigorously negotiated to get the optimum result for your company.
As well as claiming a historical rebate, we’ll ensure that the historical issue is fixed and that your business will be billed the correct amount going forward.
The water audit aims to verify and challenge factors contributing to historical business water rates. Here are the questions our water audit looks to verify:
The standing charges on a water bill are determined by the size of the communication pipe and meter entering your property. We will inspect the meter to ensure the size is used to bill your property is accurate.
Installations of new water meters can often cause leaks where the meter is connected to the supply pipe of your property. We ensure your business is not liable for paying for the wasted water resulting from poorly executed meter installations.
Water meters are not full proof in design; we’ll do a test to make sure your water meter is recording water consumption accurately.
Business water suppliers should arrange for a physical water meter reading every six months. Our experts verify that this is actually being carried out and done accurately.
Business water suppliers calculate the amount of wastewater being returned to sewers by applying a return to sewerage allowance (RSA) to the volume of water being recorded by your water meter.
The RSA is judgemental, and our experts can analyse whether this is fair given the use of water on your property.
Business water suppliers refer to the rateable value of properties when calculating the water bill of properties without a water meter. Our experts will verify the ratable value is figures using local council databases.
Business water suppliers charge water drainage based on a property’s surface area. Our experts will remeasure the property to ensure that the figure on the water bills is accurate.
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) is a measure of how much oxygen is required to break down pollutants in trade effluent. The COD is used in water bills to measure the strength of trade effluent produced by a business. Our experts will use industry benchmarks to determine whether the COD used in your water bills is accurate.
The Suspended Solids (SS) factor measures the solid particles included within trade effluent. Our experts will use industry benchmarketing to ensure the SS is accurate on your water bills.
Historic overcharging can be claimed from your business water supplier based upon the statute of limitations for 6 years in England and 5 years in Scotland. The supplier refunds claim will request a rebate for this entire period.
Our water expert teams and partners consist of ex-water company personnel, including fully licensed leak technicians, billing analysts, site surveyors, trade effluent officers (Mogden Formula proficient) and surface water/highways drainage assessors.
Our expertise gives your business the best chance in achieving a significant historical rebate in water costs. Our expert partners at Water Management Solutions have recovered overcharges valued in excess of tens of millions of pounds.
Requesting a business water audit with AquaSwitch is simple. Simply fill out of form above.
One of our helpful team members will be in touch to assist you with your water audit request. We can then kick the process off to help you save money on your business water bills.
Are you looking to switch your business water supplier? Compare business water prices today and choose from the best business water suppliers.