Water rarely makes the board agenda. It’s predictable, quiet, and widely assumed to be “just the price you pay.” But this, that assumption is costing UK organisations millions.
Since market deregulation in England (2017), businesses have been free to choose their retailer, yet Ofwat’s 2025 report shows persistent billing inaccuracies, poor market data, and widespread customer overcharging. It isn’t unusual for multi-site organisations to uncover five years of errors in a single review.
As we move into the 2026 charging year, the case for reviewing your water charges has never been clearer.
The Data Problem: Why Billing Errors Persist
The biggest structural challenge remains unchanged: the central market database (CMOS) still contains outdated or incomplete supply data. This leads to:
- Incorrect tariffs
- Overstated consumption
- Duplicate charges
- Wrong meter configurations
- Surface water drainage errors
Ofwat highlighted this again in its 2024–25 State of the Market review, noting that the market has yet to deliver “the level of accuracy and customer benefit originally expected.”
In practice, this means many organisations are simply paying for the wrong thing.
The 2026 Regulatory Shift: More Scrutiny, More Accountability
While water isn’t regulated like electricity and gas procurement, the environment in which businesses operate is changing:
- Rising environmental reporting requirements
- Tightening expectations around water stewardship
- Increased scrutiny of consumption in high-use sectors
- Accelerated pressure on sustainability claims
A water review helps you prepare for these changes by ensuring your data is accurate, your charges reflect real usage, and any consumption-reduction opportunities are visible and measurable.
What a Water Review Actually Covers
A genuine water audit is not a spreadsheet exercise. It’s a forensic breakdown of:
Billing Accuracy
- Checking tariffs, charges, wholesaler alignment, historic bills, meter allocations and rateable value data.
Consumption Analysis
- Identifying leaks, night-flow anomalies, incorrect meter reads, and abnormal seasonal patterns.
Surface Water Drainage Errors
- The UK’s most common hidden overcharge, and one that often results in multi-year refunds.
Trade Effluent
- Ensuring charges reflect the actual nature and volume of discharge.
Historic Rebates
- Up to six years of overcharging may be recoverable under statute.
Future Strategy
- Safeguarding the next contract cycle against repeated errors.
How Much Can Businesses Save?
Savings vary by sector, but industry reports show:
- The majority of multi-site organisations are overpaying
- Surface water drainage reviews alone deliver significant refunds
- Leak detection and consumption optimisation materially reduce annual spend
Ofwat’s monitoring data shows that where reviews are conducted, incorrect charges are found with surprising regularity.
Water Costs Will Rise - Even if Consumption Doesn’t
Wholesalers across England are forecast to increase charges again in 2026, driven by:
- Inflation
- Infrastructure investment
- Environmental compliance pressures
- Population-driven demand growth
A water review doesn’t just look backwards - it prepares your organisation for any new charging structures.
Why Businesses Delay and Why They Shouldn’t
Most organisations delay because:
- “Water is small compared to energy.”
- “It’s too complex.”
- “We don’t think we’re overpaying.”
- “We don’t have internal capacity.”
But a review is low-friction, requires minimal internal time, and often uncovers opportunities that have been missed for years.
And unlike energy, the fixes aren’t speculative - they’re immediate and tangible.
Water Efficiency: Where Cost Meets ESG
Water connects to several 2025–26 sustainability frameworks:
- SECR
- UK Green Taxonomy
- Corporate sustainability reporting
- Operational efficiency targets
- Net-zero plans (water often overlooked in Scope 3)
Reducing consumption improves resilience, reduces environmental impact, and strengthens your sustainability reporting position.
What Happens After a Review?
Once errors are identified:
- Rebates are calculated
- Retailers and wholesalers are challenged
- Data is corrected centrally
- Future bills reflect actual usage
- Ongoing monitoring ensures issues don’t return
The result?
Better data, lower costs, stronger compliance, and a measurable operational improvement heading into 2026.
Many UK organisations are overpaying for water, often for years. A Water Review identifies errors, reduces consumption, and supports your environmental reporting.
If you want to know whether you’re one of the many businesses being overcharged, book a water review with our team.
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