Reducing your site area based surface water drainage charges
Surface water drainage is where rainwater is removed from properties. If you are a customer who is charged for surface water drainage by site area there are a number of steps you can take that might reduce your surface water drainage bill. These include:
Checking that your water company's estimate of the site area is correct
Contact your water company – you will find details of how to do this on your bill. Companies who charge surface water drainage by site area will have made an estimate of the site area, but this estimate may be incorrect.
If you believe there has been a miscalculation, you should contact your water company for a review. You may be in the wrong charging band, meaning your charges may be too high.
Checking that your water company's estimate of chargeable site area is correct
Your water company may also have not taken account of site area where natural drainage occurs. You should only be charged for surface water drainage for areas which, directly or indirectly, drain into public sewers.
Therefore, areas that drain naturally, such as sports fields or gravel car parks, should not be included in the chargeable site area. Again, if you believe that such areas have not been taken into consideration, you should contact your water company for a review. This could result in significant savings.
Take action to reduce charges
You can also take action to reduce your charges by reducing the amount of surface water on your site that drains into the public sewers. Some of the ways of doing this include:
- Installing a soakaway. A soakaway is man-made hole in the ground filled with gravel. It collects water and allows it to disperse and drain away naturally. It costs in the region of £650 to put in a small (1m3) soakaway.
- Changing impermeable areas to permeable ones. Natural drainage can be promoted by converting areas which do not allow water to soak through, such as an asphalt car park, to ones which do, such as a gravel one.
For information about surface water drainage charges, please get in touch with your water company. If you have any further queries, please contact the Consumer Council for Water.
