How much does my water cost?

How much does my water really cost?

The true cost of water is more than just the water charges you pay.

There are many other, hidden, indirect costs that determine the total cost of water to your company.

These include:

• disposal costs, either as a percentage of the amount you receive or by the strength of effluent
• the energy used to heat or cool water (see below)
• pumping, storing and additional treatment costs (see below)
• staff time spent wasting water (e.g. excessive washing down)
• materials or products lost with the wasted water (e.g. metals lost by poor control at metal plating firms)
• your meter, the size of which determines the level of standing charges you pay.

The size of these cumulative costs depends on the amount of water used; so reducing your usage reduces all these costs.

Any leakage that occurs on your site will also increase your costs and bring you no benefit at all!

Bad news...

Treating water or heating it can rapidly increase your overall costs as the table below demonstrates.

Good news...

If you can reduce the amount of treated or heated water you use, your overall savings will be much higher than just the cost of your water.

The true cost of treated water to your business
Water type	Average cost
UK Mains supply (2004/2005 figures)	£0.42 − £1.00/m3(standard metered tariff)
Chlorinated water	£0.75 − £1.50/m3
Softened water	£2 − £3/m3
Demineralised/deionised water	£2 − £3/m3
Condensate	£3 − £4/m3
Steam	£10 − £12/tonne

Source: Envirowise Water Account Pocket Notebook