Your bill is broadly split into two main areas - your water charges and your wastewater charges.
Water charges
Your water charges are based upon the amount of water that you use. This is recorded by your water meter. There is also an annual fixed cost or standing charge directly related to the size of your water meter.
Your wastewater charges
Calculating your wastewater charges is slightly more complex. Your wastewater charge covers three services:
- The removal and treatment of all the wastewater (volumetric sewerage) that you discharge from your premises into the sewer*;
- Draining surface water from your premises ie: rainwater that falls onto buildings, private roads and drains into sewers; and
- Draining the public highway (all our sewerage customers pay for this service).
Your charge for (1) is based upon the volume of water that is used at your premises and is measured via your water meter. Therefore your water use directly affects your wastewater charge (so any reduction in the amount of water that you use will also reduce your wastewater bill).
When we set the charge for volumetric sewerage we assume on average that 5 per cent of the metered water supplied to customers is not returned to the public sewer. If you are a non-household customer and consider that more than 5 per cent of the water supplied to you is not returned to the public sewer, you can make a claim for an allowance against this charge. Further details and a claim form can be found in our non-return to sewer page.
Your charges for (2) and (3) are based upon the chargeable area of your premises, which is the total site area of your premises (whether or not the surface is permeable) but excludes any permanently grassed, cultivated or landscaped areas. Examples of excluded areas are playing fields, farmland, racecourses, sports grounds, golf courses, parklands or areas of land on which no building is by law permitted. We call this 'site area charging'.
*We also have a number of customers who receive trade effluent services from us and these customers receive a separate bill for this service.